Finally
by MakeItSoWesley
Summary: Callie and Arizona both get nominated for the Catherine Fox. (Slight AU, but mostly canon.)
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** **This is obviously an AU, but whatever. I love it.**

Arizona Robbins was used to her phone ringing at all hours of the day for emergencies and she loved it. Today had been no different, so when she was called into the hospital at 3:34 in the morning because one of her patients was deteriorating she rushed to the hospital and into the O.R. to save a life, well two lives. She'd had the nurses page Karev just in case while she got started on the fetal surgery. The baby was only at 32 weeks, and she knew that he might need to come out, and Alex Karev was the second best pediatric surgeon in the country, she had trained him well.

"Hey Robbins, what's up?" He asked walking into the room. Alex Karev was her best friend.

"Hey Karev, the mother isn't doing well here and I called you just in case. Wanna scrub in and give me a hand?" She watched as he nodded and went to the scrub room. She'd already been in this surgery for forty five minutes, and it was nearing 5:00AM, even if they didn't have to deliver the baby, she would be glad for the company of Alex.

He returned quickly, and stood by while she worked, chatting about everything and nothing, when suddenly, "Hey, isn't today the day? The Catherine Fox nomination phone calls?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, but I don't want to get my hopes up. You know fetal surgery is still pretty unrecognized as a speciality, the F.A.C.S. can't decide if it should be a subspeciality of OB-GYN or Peds or if it should be its own thing." She answered with a glance at the clock, 4:59AM.

"That's dumb. You're literally bringing in woman from all over the country, the whole world. Why does the world know your name, but not the F.A.C.S.?" Alex asked, also glancing at the clock. "Besides, isn't that why you went and got board certified as an OB-GYN, like Herman?"

"That was part of it, yes."

Suddenly her phone started ringing, and she glanced at the clock again, 5:03AM.

"Cynthia?" She asked the nurse whose sole job in this O.R. was to answer her phone.

"617, Dr. Robbins. Boston area code."

Arizona hesitated again. It could be the Catherine Fox Foundation, but it could also be someone else. Her parents lived in Boston. It could be anything.

"Dude, answer the phone." It was Alex who gave the command.

"Hello, Dr. Robbins' phone, Cynthia speaking." Arizona could tell the room had collectively held their breath as they all listened to Cynthia nervously answer. "Yes sir, just a second please, I will put you on speaker phone as Dr. Robbins is in and emergency surgery."

"Hello, this is Dr. Robbins." Arizona spoke to the room, which was now silent except for the two heart rate monitors beeping steadily.

"Hello Dr. Robbins, this is Andrew from the Catherine Fox Foundation, it is my distinct pleasure and honor to inform you that you have been nominated for a Catherine Fox Award this year!"

The whole room burst into whoops and applause, and Alex gave a funny little dance ensuring that he kept his hands in the surgical field.

"But I can see that you're busy, so why don't you give me a call back after your surgery and we can discuss details, sound good?"

Arizona could only nod, but Alex asked "Who are the other nominees?"

"Dr. Henry Barnes, Harvard University Hospital - general surgery. Dr. Julia Hendricks, Brigham - E.N.T.. Dr. James Ross, Cleveland Clinic - Cardiothoracics. And Dr. Calliope Torres, NYU - orthopedics."

Alex and Arizona just stared at each other. Callie.

"Okay Dr. Robbins, call me when your surgery is finished, and we'll discuss details."

As soon as he had finished speaking, Cynthia took him off speaker and took down the details for Andrew, and Arizona and Alex finished staring at each other, as Arizona got back to work.

Callie and she had been nominated in the same year. She'd always known that Callie would do great things. He ex-wife was a freaking genius, and had already been nominated before. Arizona and the rest of Grey-Sloan had watched the ceremony together in the attendings lounge and had sent flowers and congratulations. There had been whisperings in the medical community about orthopedics not being good enough to be recognized, but Arizona knew different. Callie was amazing at her job, and had changed the way people viewed orthopedic surgery.

Suddenly her phone started ringing again, though this time it was the ring tone she had assigned only for Callie.

"It's Dr. Torres, Dr. Robbins." Everyone in the room had known that Arizona and Callie had been married once upon a time, and most of them also had known and worked with her before she moved to New York.

"Answer it!" Once again Alex had spoken for her.

This time Cynthia had instantly put it on speaker phone, and instead of a hello, the whole O.R. burst into cheers for Callie.

When the noise had died down, Arizona spoke "Congratulations Dr. Torres!"

"You too, Dr. Robbins! Where are you?" Arizona smiled at the happiness she could hear in Callie's voice, but also the nervousness.

"I'm in the O.R., Karev is here with me."

"Congratulations Torres!" He spoke into the phone.

"Thanks Karev!"

Just as Arizona was about to continue speaking, there was a knock on the gallery window and they both looked up to see all of their friends standing there waving at them. She nodded and they turned on the speaker. Congratulations pouring down from their friends.

"Who's that?" Callie asked.

"Everyone, Callie. Everyone."

"Robbins, you talking to Torres?"

"Yes Dr. Bailey," and before she could finish her answer they all erupted into applause again, and Arizona doubted that they could hear Callie's thanks over the phone.

"Okay, everyone leave, I have a surgery to finish." The intercom was turned off and Arizona turned to the phone, "Callie, can I call you back later?"

"Yes, please Arizona. Congratulations."

The nurse hung up the phone, and Arizona just looked at Alex, a smile stretching her face. She could see the matching smile on his as he did a happy dance again. "I knew I picked the right mentor Robbins. You're gonna win. And if you don't, Torres is going to."

The surgery had gone well, they hadn't had to deliver the baby, and Alex hadn't even been mad that he was called in for nothing. As Arizona had walked to her office, she couldn't help smiling as people smiled and shook her hand or gave her a high five or a pat on the back as she walked by, the whole hospital had heard by now.

After her call to Andrew she got the details, and called her parents to tell them. Since they lived in Boston she made arrangements to stay with the for the weekend, and when they heard that Callie had also been nominated that year, they invited her and Sofia to come stay. They would have a celebration for the both of them at home, and then again after when one of their daughters won.

Arizona knew that the last time she had been nominated Callie had brought Sofia to stay with her parents for the weekend which they had loved, and they had taken them both out to dinner to celebrate. She was glad that Callie had suggested it, since they were all so close together, relatively, and that Callie had gone to dinner with Barbra and the Colonel.

She faced timed Callie and felt her heart do a summersault when it wasn't Callie that had answered, but Sofia.

"Hi little bug!" She almost started crying. She had talked to Sofia last night on the phone, and they had seen each other over Skype two days ago, but every time she got to see her daughter was both heartbreaking and breathtaking. She was getting so big! She missed getting to watch her grow everyday, but she didn't regret sending her with Callie. All Arizona had ever wanted was for Callie's happiness, and if she had to break her own heart in the process, well so be it. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Mommy said that today was a day to celebrate, and since Mama was calling I didn't have to go to school!" The phone slid down a bit and showed Sofia's chest, and Arizona could hear Callie say "tattle-tale" as the phone was passed back to her ex-wife.

"Go on and play with your toys, I've got to talk to mama and then we'll go get ice-cream okay bug?" Arizona watched as the phone centered on Callie's face again, and she felt a little bit of butterflies in her stomach. Even through all of the crap that they had gone through since the plane crash, she still loved Callie. Even after the custody hearing. She had been mad, sure, but there was always the love.

She didn't know how to stop being in love with Calliope Torres.

Finally Callie turned back to the phone and smiled at Arizona. God that smile.

"Hey,"

"Hey. Ice cream instead of school, why Callie it appears that you are spoiling our daughter."

"I know, but when they called and I asked and they said your name, I just knew."

"I agree." Arizona had known. When she found out all she wanted to do was be with Callie and Sofia. Callie and she were in a good place right now, they were friends and got along well. It was nice to be able to share this with her.

The silence that stretched between them now was the comfortable kind, the kind they had shared before the divorce and before all the really bad stuff. It was the kind of silence that Arizona knw shouldn't be hopeful but it was.

"I'm really excited to see you in person Callie." And she was. She missed Callie being in the same hospital as she was.

"Me too Arizona. Hopefully we can have dinner together, you and me and Sofia."

"Oh, we will. Barbra and The Colonel said you're not allowed to stay at a hotel this year. You and Sofia will stay with us."

Arizona watched as Callie's mouth gaped a little before she continued, "Please Callie, let's just have this weekend together. I'd love to be able to have Sofia for the weekend, and then you can take her back to New York. This is a once in a life-time opportunity for me, I'm sure that you'll be nominated again and again, but what are the chances of it happening again, the two of us, like this?"

"Okay."

"And you can sleep in Tim's old room with Sofia, and there's a TV in my room and it's just across the hall and there's a TV and, wait. Did you say okay?"

"I did." She smiled, and Arizona could see the mirth in her eyes. Her eyes that were always so expressive and beautiful.

"You did." She practically whispered.

"I think it will be nice. Especially for Sofia. She loves getting to spend time with her grandparents."

"Okay."

As Arizona stood at the gate that Callie and Sofia were due to land at any moment, she shuffled from foot to foot, anticipation nearly killing her. The Xanax she took before the flight was finally wearing off, but it had helped her get through the flight. She'd flown once before, but it was horrible and she hated every second of it. She'd needed to go to NYC to meet Sofia's new school teachers and principle, as well as the pediatrician Callie had found. Though Callie had run all the names by Arizona first, she was familiar with them by name but had never met any of them, so she had flown. It was horrible. Though they had planned for it. She had arrived a day before they told Sofia that she was coming, and Callie had been gracious enough to pick her up from the airport. It was a kindness because Arizona hadn't been sure how the Xanax would affect her and it had made her quite loopy. She didn't remember much from that day, just that at one point Callie was half carrying her to her car and the next she was waking up in a hotel bed, her prosthetic off and Callie reading in a chair next to the bed. She'd left soon after Arizona awake to pick Sofia up from school, and returned the next morning for breakfast.

This time she had taken less of the drug, and while it did the trick and prevented a panic attack, she wished could could have taken more. She didn't want to remember the fear, like the last two trips, but it was there this time. It had been dull and hiding in the back of her mind, but she knew that she would probably have a nightmare tonight, and probably the next few nights. She had asked, and Meredith and Cristina both said it got easier the more you did it, but she had never really been comfortable on planes, but she hoped to at least get back to that.

Finally people started to get off the plane, and she was glad that their flights had worked out so well, landing only thirty minutes apart so Arizona decided not to leave the lounge and just wait instead of going to baggage claim, and then she heard a "Mama!" and her daughter was in her arms, followed closely behind Callie.

A few tears spilled as she hugged Sofia tightly to her, and a smile stretched her cheeks when she looked at Callie who smiled back. With a last squeeze for Sofia, Arizona righted herself and hugged Callie, not as tightly as she had Sofia but tighter than she hugged her other friends. She felt shivers run down her spine as Callie whispered in her ear "you okay?"

She couldn't decide on how to answer, she was still terrified from the flight, but she was much better now that she had her daughter holding tightly to her free hand, lightly swinging it back and forth, so she just shrugged. And she was glad when Callie's face softened in understanding.

They made their way out of the airport together, Arizona and Sofia chatting happily while Callie followed behind them with all three of their carry ons, her voice adding to the conversation every so often. Barbra and The Colonel met them at the arrivals gate to Sofia's excitement and both Arizona and Callie were forgotten as the little girl launched herself into The Colonel's arms, the gruff exterior of the man cracking slightly as he held and spoke to his granddaughter. The whole family made their way to the vehicle, Colonel Grandpa still carrying Sofia.

Callie was settling into her dead brother-in-laws room. The last time she was here, she had only seen teenaged Arizona's room when she had dropped Sofia off last year when she was nominated for the Catherine Fox. Her grandparents had filled that room with age appropriate toys and things for their granddaughter, but it hadn't completely masked teenage Arizona. That Cindy Crawford poster was still there, as were all the textbooks from high school through med school, and there were awards and pictures. But this room, Tim's room, was equal parts shrine and office. Tim's things were still here, though Callie could tell that they had been consolidated a bit, but she could get an idea of who he was. He was the male version of Arizona, and Callie was once again saddened that she never got to meet him.

While she was looking at a picture of Tim, tall and buff and shirtless, holding Arizona while they were on a beach somewhere. The same dimpled smile shone from the frame blinding Callie. She knew that smile, that super magical smile, the way it could light the whole room and make everyone in it feel better, and to see it in Tim, Callie knew that Tim Robbins would have been an excellent uncle, and excellent brother, son, and a wonderful person. When Arizona had called George awesome after he joined the army, she had felt sadness at the story, but looking at the two of them so happy together, she realized the depth of that emotion.

There was a soft knock at the door, so she left the picture and went to open it. Arizona was standing on the other side with her crutches, looking a bit more haggard than she had all evening. Callie had watched her all night, there was a forced smile on her face all night, and she could tell that all pretence had been dropped now. And it wasn't her "I'm in pain" face, but something else, something deeper.

"Arizona?"

"Hey Callie, can I come in?"

Callie stepped back, and followed her in as she made her way to the bed. Leaving a gap in the door in case Sofia called, Callie made her way to Arizona.

"You okay? And be honest this time, please."

Arizona's only answer was to pat the space beside her on the bed. Callie accepted the invitation and sat down. They sat in silence, side by side and closer than they had been for a long while.

"No." Arizona spoke softly, so Callie scooted closer until they were touching and took Arizona's small hand between both of hers. Arizona sighed as she rested her head on Callie's shoulder.

"Sofia?" Callie asked after a pause, and squeezed Arizona's hand again.

"Still asleep, but I was getting scared." Callie could tell that Arizona was deflecting a bit, not being completely honest. She could still read Arizona so well, and could tell that there was more to this late night visit.

"The plane?" She asked softly, and Arizona just nodded against Callie's shoulder. Extracting her right arm from Arizona's hand, she wrapped it around the smaller woman's shoulder and hugged her tightly. She had missed this. Quiet moments with Arizona, Sofia sleeping down the hall.

"I mean, I knew I would have nightmares tonight, but I've been thinking about them all day, the ones I've had before, the way they roll and spin and change and sometimes you're there and sometimes it was you and sometimes it's Sofia, and I guess now I'm scared of them coming and it's scaring me and I haven't even gone to sleep." Callie listened as Arizona whispered her ramble and was about to break in, when Arizona kept going, "and I'm scared because I'm sharing a bed with Sofia and what if I hurt her or scare her and I don't want to do that."

"Hey, hey, shh, Arizona, sweetie, shh." Callie's heart broke in that moment, knew the lengths and depth of fear that Arizona was feeling.

"You were never violent or thrashy in your sleep. When you had nightmares, you would barely move, so you don't have to be afraid of that." Callie could remember those nights, the way that Arizona's voice climbed in pitch and fear, the way that her whole body would go rigid and tense, but she'd never asked why.

"Really?" And now Arizona's voice was small, small in a way that it should never be.

"Really."

"The therapist thinks it's because I couldn't move in the woods." Arizona paused and sniffled as Callie felt herself tense. They'd never spoken about the time she spent in the woods. Or about the fact that Arizona had seen a therapist. Pride swelled in her chest for Arizona, knowing that the smaller woman had seen someone and spoken to someone about it.

But now she was afraid to say something in case Arizona would close herself off. It's not that she wanted to hear about that time in the woods, but that she wanted to hear about Arizona and what she felt and went through.

"Yeah?" She asked softly once the silence had stretched for a long moment.

"Yeah."

"You don't have to tell me Arizona. Not if you don't want to."

Arizona let out a deep sigh that Callie felt along her whole body in the places that they were touching. Callie knew that this was hard for Arizona, and while she had always wondered what it was life for her wife out there, she wouldn't force her ex-wife to tell her anything.

"I knew my leg was probably going to have to be amputated. I mean the bone was sticking out. I didn't want it to happen, I was thinking about dancing and skating and carrying Sofia and sex and walking with you and surgery and all the little things I took for granted, but part of me knew. My wife was an ortho goddess and I watched her amputate dozens of legs, how could I not. But the scared part of me, the one that didn't want to give anything up, believed that you would fix me. That I could be some miracle. I was mad at you for a long time, I was. I don't think I'll ever be able to apologize for that Callie." Callie could feel the tenseness in Arizona's body, the slight tremor of her arms as she held Callie's hand. But she could also feel that Arizona wasn't done talking.

"I couldn't help them look for Derek. I couldn't walk over to see Lexie, to say goodbye. Any time I moved my leg hurt. I couldn't help Cristina pull the maggots out of my leg. All I could do was sit there and listen. Listen to Jerry not feel his legs. Listen to the animals as they - as they - oh god, Lexie. I couldn't help Cristina and Meredith protect Lexie. I could only listen as Mark kept trying to die on me. I could only whisper 'Callie and Sofia' over and over to him, to myself, as he laid on my right leg and kept trying to die. I don't know how, I don't… He was such a good dad, Callie. Mark. He wanted to see you guys one last time. It became our mantra near the end, before we were rescued. I would said 'Callie' and he would say 'Sofia' and then we held hands, and I thought once, 'thank god for Calliope for giving me Mark.'

"But I couldn't move. And when I have nightmares, even if there isn't a plane involved, it's always me paralysed. Someone I love is in trouble and I can't do anything because I can't move. The therapist says that that fear manifests itself that way. That it's a trigger for the PTSD, as well as a symptom."

Callie could feel the tears streaming down her face, could feel the wetness as it gathered on her shoulder from where Arizona was crying as well.

"I'm so sorry Arizona." And she was. Part of her was glad that Arizona had finally shared the story with her, and though part of her wished she hadn't had to hear it, she was glad to know what Arizona and Mark had gone through.

"Me too Callie. Me too." Callie turned and kissed the top of Arizona's head, and just continued to hold her while they both cried some more.

Callie's tears dried out before Arizona's and when the blonde was finished, she went to the bathroom, stopping to check that Sofia was still asleep and returned with a box of tissue. They both cleaned their faces, and Callie didn't hesitate to take Arizona back in her arms and continue to hold her. She felt the way Arizona melted into her arms, and Callie gripped her tighter.

"Is this okay sweetie?" She asked the smaller woman in her arms.

"Yes." Arizona breathed.

They sat that way for a long time. Holding each other. Callie was glad that it was finally happening. She had held Arizona like this in other moments after the plane crash, but now she knew the depth of fear that Arizona had been in, both in the woods and the memories of it happening after in her mind.

"I know I should have told you sooner, Callie, I should have told you when it would have made a difference. I should have told you so many things." Arizona whispered.

"Maybe. But you told me now, and that's good." Callie kissed the top of Arizona's head again. "I should have done a lot of things differently too Arizona."

"I know you have questions, Callie, and I promise you that I will answer them, but not tonight if that's okay. Let's change the subject."

"Okay." Callie wiped her own tears and then wiped Arizona's, extracting herself from the blonde's arms and throwing the used tissues away.

"Okay." Arizona said, reaching for her crutches.

"Where are you going?" Callie asked, reaching forward to help Arizona stand up.

"I was going to go sleep on the couch in dad's office. It's just down the hall so I can hear Sofia."

Making a split second decision, Callie placed her hands on Arizona's shoulder's and as she sat back down Callie took the crutches and leaned them against the desk while speaking "Don't be silly, you'll sleep here, with me. We're both close to Sofia this way, and I'll be here if you have a nightmare."

"Callie," she could hear the tone of warning in Arizona's voice, the hesitation.

"Arizona." Was all she said back.

"What about Penny?"

"Penny and I broke up."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." At that Arizona slid herself back onto the bed, laying against the pillows. Callie watched as she maneuvered the blankets under herself and patted the space beside her. She only hesitated for half a second before climbing into the bed, ensuring to leave space between them.

While it was true that she and Penny had broken up, she knew that she shouldn't be sharing a bed with Arizona, even though she was sure that they both needed to, tonight especially. While she had been happy with Penny, even probably loved her deeply, it wasn't the same way that she had loved Arizona. It was kind of like loving George. It was safe and exciting in a way that didn't make her heart race, and it was comfortable. Loving Arizona had been like the best parts of riding a rollercoaster. She knew that she would always love Arizona in some way, as friends as colleagues, as her child's other mother. But being in love with Arizona was something that was so different from anything before or after that she knew she was ruined.

"I'm sorry Callie."

After she climbed into the bed, they both lay on their backs staring at the ceiling in Tim's room. Slowly Callie reached between the space between them and took Arizona's hand, and they both were silent for a moment.

"Can I ask you something Arizona?"

"Sure," Arizona turned to look at Callie, waiting.

"Do you think I'd be welcome back at Grey-Sloan?"

Callie almost laughed at the surprise on the blondes face, her mouth had fallen open.

"The organization that won the bid for the new NHL team in Seattle has approached me about being part of their team. I still have privileges at the hospital of course, but the commitment they want is only two days a week, and sometimes I'd travel with the team. The Mariners also reached out about a year ago, but I had to turn them down because I was in New York by that point." Callie knew as a member of the board that she should go back, simply for the prestige that her taking that position would bring the hospital. But she was more concerned about personally. She knew that Sofia missed Seattle, and if she were honest she did too.

New York wasn't home. And while she did provide services to the sports teams here, they were all on a case by case basis. In fact it had been one of the Rangers doctors who recommended her to the Seattle Team, and it was permanent position. She also missed working for the Seahawks.

"Oh my god, Callie, that's amazing! Even if you they don't want you back, you should do it anyway! But I know they'll want you back. I happen to know some people on the board who would vote yes for your return. In fact, while it hasn't been made public yet, Dr. Chang is finally retiring, I'd hire you as head of orthopedics!"

"That dinosaur is finally retiring?"

"It may be a forced retirement, but yes."

"Wow." Was all Callie could say.

"Besides, who could say no to the most recent Catherine Fox Award winner?"

"Oh hush, you're going to win Arizona. The fact that they recognized you as a Maternal-Fetal Surgeon instead of lumping you in with Peds or OB means that you're legitimizing the field."

"Maybe. But even if I do win, which I won't because you are, you've still been nominated twice, that's amazing."

Callie could feel herself blush under the praise, and could hear the pride in Arizona's voice.

"Okay, but let's talk about it later. We still have to ask Sofia."

"That's right, you deflect my praise Dr. Calliope Torres, but I'm proud of you. I'm proud to call you my friend, and I'm proud to sing your praises because you deserve all of them. You're a wonderful person, mother, and surgeon, and in that order."

"Okay Dr. Robbins. But we really should go to sleep now because we have a big day tomorrow, you're going to win a Catherine Fox."

Callie just smiled and squeezed Arizona's hand, "No, you are."

They had spent the day with Arizona's parents and their daughter, the only thing surrounding them were smiles and family. Both had received calls from colleagues, and when Arizona had mentioned that she was with Callie, the blonde had handed her phone over so friends from Seattle could wish Callie luck as well. Alex and Meredith had called together, and demanded they be put on speaker phone so they could wish each of them luck. Then when their demands had been acquiesced, they spent most of the time bickering with each other about who would actually win while Callie and Arizona had laughed.

Meredith had shut Alex up with "Well, as I've already won one, I have the upper hand and know that Callie is going to win."

Arizona and Callie thanked them both, and walked into the ballroom where the ceremony was going to be held. When they arrived they found that they were going to be seated at different tables, Arizona had found Catherine Fox and asked if there could be some rearranging of the the seats.

Though as the dinner progressed, Callie was becoming increasingly nervous about the possibility that she was going to win and that she would have to get up on stage and give a speech. She hated public speaking. It was the thing that made her most nervous. It terrified her.

"Hey, Callie. It'll be okay."

"I don't want to embarrass myself. Last year when I was here, I was actually so thankful that I didn't win. I mean I was upset, but mostly was thankful that I didn't have to give a speech." Callie started chugging her water. She'd rather it were wine, or even tequila, but she knew that alcohol wouldn't make her any less nervous, in fact it would probably make her more likely to throw up. She was sure she was going to through up now.

"You won't Callie." Arizona slipped her hand over Callies, where she was currently tearing a napkin into little pieces. She stilled her hands and turned to look at Arizona. That super magic smile was on full display, and she felt herself calm a little. She was still pretty certain that Arizona was going to win, so she wasn't sure why she was so nervous.

Suddenly Catherine Fox was on the stage, giving her speech about surgical innovation and what not, and Callie couldn't breathe. She was full blown panic mode now.

"Calliope," Arizona whispered in her ear, "You're going to be fine."

Callie felt a chill of electricity run through her, and she turned and say deep blue eyes smiling back at her, and she was overcome with the desire to kiss Arizona. Nothing the world could hurt her when she was kissing Arizona Robbins. And just as she was about to do it, Catherine Fox spoke.

"The winner of this years Catherine Fox Award for Surgical Innovation is Dr. Calliope Torres!"

Well shit.

She was frozen to her spot as the room started clapping for her.

"Calliope, you have to go on stage now."

"Come with me Arizona."

"I can't Callie, you have to go alone."

"Please Arizona."

Arizona nodded once, and they made their way on stage together, hand in hand. She was handed her award, but her hands were shaking so bad. Arizona had stood to the side with Catherine, but Callie couldn't see anything beyond her shaking hands.

Suddenly Arizona was beside her, pulling the notecards she had written her speech on from her hands and was stepping up to the microphone.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Callie Torres." Callie could hear the laughter from the crowd. "I am so thankful to be here tonight, to have won this award."

And then Callie couldn't hear anything. She was enchanted by the way that Arizona was speaking, reading from Callie's notecards. The way that Arizona's smile never left her face, the way that the crowd was looking between them.

Arizona reached back and grabbed her hand when she read the last notecard, and Callie could hear what was being said again. "I'm actually Dr. Arizona Robbins, another of the nominees. Dr. Torres is my very good friend and former colleague. When we worked together at Grey-Sloan Memorial, I was always amazed and inspired by her. She never gave up on anything. A lot of people look down on Orthopedics, relegating it to the side after other things are taken care of. There are a hundred different cases I could think of to tell you about the genius and ingenuity of Dr. Torres' work, but there's one that inspires me the most. A man had come in, his dominant hand crushed by a garbage truck, and she was pushed to the side while the others took care of his other traumatic injuries. When she finally got to meet him, she was dismayed to see that the time with which she could fix his hand was fading away. When she told him that he would probably lose a lot of function in his hand, he told her that he was an artist, that he needed his hand. So Dr. Torres, who is an artist herself when it comes to bones, made a deal with him. She would do what she could to save as much function as she could, if he was willing to put in the work. Deal struck, Dr. Torres saved his hand and she worked with him to get him back to 100%."

"On his last PT session he came in with a gift for her, a wood carving. Dr. Torres and I were married once, and this piece of artwork hung in the office we shared at home. I would look at it from time to time, just staring at it. It was an x-ray of his own hand, post-op. The hardware and the bracers, you can still see the fracture lines, all of it. Dr. Torres knows the value of a hand, of the importance that the ability to create means to someone, she knows that bones are the foundation of people and she sees ways beyond living to save a life. I am proud to call her my friend. Thank you."

Callie could only stare as Arizona lead her from the stage, one hand gripping tightly to the glass award the other to Arizona's hand. She nodded at people as they congratulated her and mumbled her thanks and accepted their accolades.

After the ceremony was over, they waited outside for a cab in silence. Callie couldn't help but stare at Arizona. The blonde just smiled back, a loving look on her face. The ride back to the Robbins' home was also spent in silence, though this time there was no staring. They just held hands. Sofia had been granted permission to stay up late to greet her mothers, and Barbra and The Colonel had champagne and ice cream cake ready. They all celebrated Callie's win, and accepted constant interruptions by the ringing of phones congratulating Callie and commiserating with Arizona. After putting Sofia to bed, and saying goodnight to Arizona's parents Callie pulled Arizona to Tim's room.

"You're not upset you lost?" She asked, closing the door.

"No, Callie, I'm not. I would have been if we'd lost to one of those other fools. But losing to you, never." Callie could hear the sincerity in Arizona's voice, could see it written in the lines of her face, the way that her smile hadn't dimmed.

The urge to kiss her ex-wife was back, and Callie didn't think she'd be able to resist this time.

"Besides, I have to remind you, I told you you were going to win. And I was right."

"Did you mean what you said, about me inspiring you?"

It was Arizona who stepped forward and took her hands. But Callie couldn't look at her.

"Look at me." Callie could feel Arizona's gaze on her face, could feel the way those blue eyes, those impossibly blue eyes, were staring at her. "Please, Calliope, look at me." God she missed the way Arizona said her name. She was the only person who said it right. Who said it in a reverent way. Finally she looked at her ex-wife.

"Do you remember in therapy, when I was talking about all the things I love about you, and you said I should have told you those things sometimes?" Callie could only nod.

"That was one of those things."

"Are there other things?"

"Yes, there's tons of things."

"Tell me some?"

"When you told me about protecting Alex from me after the leg, I fell a little bit more in love with you."

Arizona took another step closer to her, the distance between the separating to inches.

"When you would tell me about your surgeries where you did some amazing thing and save someone, it made me believe in ortho. I was one of those people before, who looked down on ortho. But when I saw all the things you could do, not only did I believe in ortho, you made me believe in the power of hope and work."

Callie knew she was crying, knew she couldn't stop.

"I was jealous when I saw you with Steak Knives."

Callie moved closer to Arizona, eliminating the distance between them now, wrapping one arm around Arizona's waist Callie gripped the hand that was still holding Arizona's tightly.

"I didn't believe in soulmates before I met you. I didn't believe that there was one person for one person. I didn't believe in love that could sustain. Which is why I never fell out of love with you. You made me believe in love."

And suddenly Callie was kissing Arizona. It had been over four years since she had kissed Arizona, nearly as long as they had been together, but it was equal parts familiarity and entirely new. It was the way she remembered their first kiss. Not the one in the bar bathroom, but the one after their first successful date, the one after Alex and Izzie's wedding, the one where one second they were dressed up for the wedding the next they were naked in her bed and making the most amazing love that had ever been made.

After long moments Callie finally pulled away, having gotten light headed from not breathing. She rested her forehead against Arizona's and they drew in ragged breaths together, hands still clutching pyjama tops and threaded through hair.

"You are legitimately the best kisser in the world Calliope. I have never been kissed the way that you kiss me. It rocks my freaking world."

Callie kissed her again.

When they broke apart this time, Callie was surprised to find herself lying on the bed, entwined with Arizona. They were still clothed, and Arizona's prosthetic was dangling precariously on the side of the bed. She moved quickly and placed it on the ground, and just as fast was back in Arizona's arms, kissing her again.

"When you get home, call a board meeting, ask about my appointment as head of orthopedics. Remind them that I just won a Catherine Fox, and tell them about the Mariners and the Seahawks and the NHL." Callie had interspersed her words with continuous kisses to Arizona's face. Her eyes, her lips, her cheeks, her dimples, everywhere she could reach.

"You have my vote. But what about this? What about us?"

Callie heard the fear in her voice, heard the way that Arizona hesitated on the second sentence. She felt the same way. They had broken each other, but they were different now, stronger, friends. It would be different. She would make sure of it.

"We'll start fresh. We won't start at the beginning again, but we'll start over. This time we know how to communicate, and we'll work on that."

"Okay."

"Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been three months since Callie Torres returned to Seattle, and while she and Arizona were dating again, they weren't living together. They weren't sleeping together, well having sex, because they had slept with each other, but it had been fully clothed and usually Sofia was in the bed with them, but that didn't mean that they should be sleeping together - having sex - even though Callie was sure that both of them wanted it. My god did she want it. But they started with therapy again, the same therapist, and it was recommended that they not have sex yet, and they were sure to listen this time because last time they didn't listen and they got divorced.

They would listen.

Even though there wasn't a time frame, like last time. Callie really wanted to have sex with Arizona.

But even if they could, which they couldn't, they wouldn't be having it tonight because she was staying at Arizona's house because they were watching Meredith's children. Meredith had a conference to go to and Arizona had volunteered to watch them. Then Arizona had invited Callie and Sofia over for a play-date which had turned into Sofia sleeping over. Arizona had assured her that she could handle all four, she had done it before, but Ellis was up and around now and while Callie believed in Arizona, she had stayed because it was fun wrangling four children with Arizona. Her ex-ex-not wife, but girlfriend.

But as she sat on the couch now, the house blissfully silent, waiting for Arizona to return from putting Bailey back to bed after he asked for a glass of milk, she wished their, she means Arizona's house, wasn't full of children so that she could get naked with Arizona.

She missed naked Arizona.

"What are you thinking about so hard over there, hmm?" Callie felt the smile work its way through her as she looked over to where the blonde was leaning against the wall of the living room.

"How long have you been there?" She asked, patting the space beside her on the couch.

"Long enough to see you so deep in thought that you were doing that thing where you bite your lip and I had to control myself from jumping you." Arizona admitted with a smile.

In this moment she rued Derek Shepherd, god rest his soul, and Meredith Grey and their three beautiful children who were sleeping upstairs with her own child.

When she and Arizona finally, _finally,_ had sex again, there should be no children in the house. She didn't believe that you should swear in front of children, and she was going to swear like a nineteenth century sailor, and she was going to make Arizona do the same.

"You're not allowed to say those kinds of things, Arizona." She said as the blonde sat beside her, and feeling the rush of heat and arousal as Arizona poured herself on the couch, practically on to her own body and Callie could barely contain herself.

"I know. Those stupid rules." Arizona husked into Callie's ear, and the brunette could feel the hot breath on her ear, the way Arizona's warm tongue snaked out to send shivers all throughout Callie and nip at her earlobe.

Damn children.

They sat in silence in each other's arms for long moments, both breathing deeply, hands held in respectable places and pointedly not making out like teenagers. They were both middle aged women, they should want to rip each other's clothes off in the back of a car. But they did.

My god, they did.

"It's your turn to ask a hard question Calliope." Arizona whispered after finally pulling away. Well, not so much as away, as like an inch. Which both was and wasn't enough space.

But Callie knew what question she wanted to ask, had wanted to ask once the therapist said that this was the way they would build their relationship on a more solid ground. The history between them had been painful and hurtful and bad, and everyone who knew them knew that they needed to be better at verbal communication.

The physical connection had never been a problem for them. When they were together the first time the learning curve hadn't really stopped them from having an instant connection. They had learned quickly the way the other's body responded and both had learned very quickly the way to use those responses to connect in the physical. It was the emotional that they needed to work on. So, instead of having sex, they were to try to connect on an emotional level. Though there was no time frame, Dr. Dawson, the therapist, had said that when they thought they were ready they still had to wait, and come see her.

"Hmm," she hummed as she moved away from Arizona and sat facing her on the coffee table.

"Do you have a question, Calliope?" Arizona asked, trailing her fingers down Callie's arm as the taller woman moved away.

"Yeah, but it's one of the scary ones. The last really scary one, actually." Callie watched as Arizona took a deep breath.

"Dr. Boswell?" She asked quietly, her impossibly blue eyes avoiding looking at Callie.

"Yeah." Callie clenched her hands between her thighs. They weren't supposed to touch when they had these conversations. Callie couldn't figure out why though. She always wanted to be touching Arizona, even if they were just sitting on the couch with Sofia watching a movie, having just a finger on Arizona was the most thrilling aspect of the moment.

Maybe that was why.

"I'll tell you Calliope, but I'm going to break the rules a little bit." Finally blue eyes met hers, and Callie didn't know if she was ready for this. When she learned about George and Izzie she kind of understood. She'd never understood about Arizona and that woman though. She wanted to, desperately. She'd forgiven Arizona for it, a long time ago in fact, but she still wanted to know. "If you're okay with that, I mean?"

"Break the rules how?" She asked, not knowing where Arizona was going with this.

Instead of a verbal answer, Callie watched as Arizona stood and removed her sweat pants and sat down, removing her prosthetic. She watched and felt as Arizona reached for her hands and placed them on her leg. Callie could remember the first time she had massaged the residual limb. Could remember what had happened that night.

"Is this okay?" Callie finally looked at Arizona. While the fear was written more plainly than anything else, Arizona was still heart stoppingly beautiful, one of the most beautiful women, one of the most beautiful people, that Callie had ever seen. The way her blonde hair caught the light in any room and drew eyes. The way her smile could illuminate a room. The way her eyes lit up with mirth and joy and sparkled in the exact same but completely different way her hair did in the same light.

In answer Callie began to lightly massage the stump, could feel the way that Arizona trembled, and Callie couldn't be sure if it was in response to the pain relief or something else.

"I was angry with you for a long time." Arizona took a deep breath that Callie could feel in her soul. "About the leg. And I lost myself in it. I'm not saying I did what I did because of the anger, because I didn't. Even though I was a huge bitch to you that year, even I'm not that petty. The anger wasn't just about the leg though, by that point I was angry about being your patient. I didn't know how to be your patient and your wife at the same time, and I didn't know how to be who I was after the crash.

Callie just listened and massaged.

"I'm different. You said I didn't have to give things up, and you were right. I didn't have to, but I still lost some things. I lost who I was. I was still Arizona Robbins, I was still your wife, I was still Sofia's mother, but I was different. I felt different. I was afraid of you, of your desire for me. I could see it on your face, in the way you touched me. I didn't feel it for a long time, that physical need for you, I didn't feel it for anyone at first. I hated who I was. I was afraid that you were trying to bring back the Arizona that died in the woods, and that because you remembered and wanted that Arizona, that the Arizona that I was wasn't what you wanted. You're going to say that was silly of me to think, and you're right. I know that now."

One of Arizona's hands covered Callie's on her leg, and Callie stilled that hand.

"After the car crash, for the first few months you didn't change in front of me. You didn't take your shirt off in front of me. I remember thinking 'doesn't she know she's beautiful to me? That she needn't worry?' I was afraid of you then, too. When you finally did take your shirt off in front of me, do you remember what I did?"

Callie swallowed, the emotion sitting in throat heavily. "You kissed all my scars."

"That was one of those things I didn't say to you, that you were still beautiful. That those scars didn't make you any less strong or different or less worthy, they meant the opposite. That you were strong, so incredibly strong, and worthy and beautiful. You are honestly one of the most beautiful human beings I have had the pleasure to lay my eyes on.

"But we didn't say those kinds of things to each other. I'm not blaming you, but you didn't say them to me either, and while you tried to show me with your actions, like I did to you, I didn't really know, you know?"

"I know."

"So I'm afraid that you don't find the new me attractive, that you're just remembering the old me and wanting that me, and I'm just starting to be okay with who I am and comfortable with who I am, and someone comes along and looks at me the way you were still looking at me. And because I was afraid that you weren't looking at new me, when someone else did it felt different and new and exciting even though she looked at me the exact same way that you were looking at me."

"I've always been afraid of you Callie. Afraid that you were new to dating girls, afraid of your relationship with Mark, afraid of how deeply you loved everyone and everything. Afraid of your bisexuality. But there were good things too, like how quickly I fell in love with you. How ready I was to stand up to your father for you, even though I've never done that before."

Callie had stopped moving and just stared at Arizona. She understood. She finally understood, and it makes sense. She wasn't hurt by it anymore, didn't feel the knife it had cause the first time, didn't want to throw up anymore.

"She looked at me and it felt good. I'm so sorry, Calliope. So incredibly sorry that I hurt you like that. It wasn't about you, which is trite and stupid and callous, but it wasn't about you. You were so kind and patient with me, and you took care of me when I couldn't or wouldn't take care of myself, and I know you've forgiven me and I know that you've put it behind you but the pain of that decision will never leave me. You are the love of my life, you are the woman who gave me a child and taught me about love and hope and magic, and when I did that… when I broke your trust in me completely, I broke myself a little."

Suddenly Ellis started crying, and Callie moved to collect the toddler before she could wake the other children. She brought the small blonde back to the living room, when small arms instantly reached for Arizona. Passing the child over, Callie's heart swelled to see Ellis cling to Arizona and melt into the embrace. She hadn't noticed that either of the adults were crying softly, but was soothed almost instantly in Arizona's arms. Callie sat beside them on the couch, one arm around the smaller woman's shoulders as she rocked Ellis back to sleep, softly singing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow."

Silent moments passed when the song was over and the rocking stopped, and Arizona was leaning into Callie's chest. It was incredibly comfortable being here with them.

"After Meredith was attacked I moved into her house to help Alex look after the children," Arizona whispered into Ellis' forehead. The deep, even breaths of the toddler indicating that she was asleep again, as comfortable in Arizona's arms as Sofia had been.

"I remember," Callie had dropped Sofia off and picked her up during those weeks at Meredith's house, even the couple months until Meredith was fully back on her feet before Arizona had moved back to her own house with Andrew.

"That was the only song I could remember the lyrics to. The second night Meredith was gone, I must have sang it a dozen times holding the baby. A couple weeks after, I had gotten back a little bit late and Maggie and Alex were singing to her but she wouldn't quiet for them, even though it was the same song. When I walked in, Ellis reached for me and I took her, my leg was killing me, but I rocked and I sang until she finally fell asleep. Alex said that Ellis must only like terrible singers."

Both of them laughed softly, and Callie tightened her arms around Arizona and Ellis.

"You're an amazing mother Arizona."

"I learned from you Calliope."

"I don't think so. I know you were hesitant about having kids, afraid of the possibility of seeing them on your ward, but kids love you. You're so good with them. You were always Sofia's favourite when she was a baby, I can admit that. I hate it, but I can admit it."

"That's just because like Ellis, Sofia prefers terrible singing. You have an amazing voice."

"I feel like you're deflecting because of things I've done and said in the past. I think that you still don't trust when I say that you're an amazing mother, a good mother." Callie knew that she had said horrible things, multiple times about their relationship. Had even done the despicable thing of throwing it in her face in court, as if the legal setting somehow invalidated the fact that Arizona had been right, had chosen Sofia, and had continued to choose her every day after. If Arizona was still angry at herself for cheating, Callie would forever be angry at herself for making Arizona doubt herself.

Arizona sighed deeply, nestling herself and Ellis further into Callie's embrace. "I want to say that I don't harbour any negative feelings about that, but that would be a lie. And it's not just you Callie, it has never just been you that said things that invalidated my role in Sofia's life."

"I'm sorry Arizona."

Arizona turned and lightly kissed Callie on the lips, "I know you are Callie. I know that you do trust me, I know that you believe in me as Sofia's mother, and I know that it's behind us. Those dark days. I don't hold it against you, I promise."

"And you know I've forgiven you about _You-Know-Who_ right?"

"I mean, he's dead Callie, Harry killed him. We read that book to Sofia together."

Callie laughed. That wasn't a deflection. There had been a point where they couldn't make jokes to each other about these things because feelings hadn't been resolved. But the fact that they could joke about the leg, and Boswell, and the car crash and her mother, all of the bad shit that had happened to them, meant that they were healing. Better and stronger than before.

"Maybe we should forgive ourselves for those things too?" Callie asked.

"Mmm, maybe you should go put this baby back to bed and then come back and make out with me."

Almost instantly Callie extracted herself from behind Arizona and lifted Ellis from her arms. The toddler didn't wake, praise be to baby jesus and all the saints, and she was quickly returned to the small bed in the guest room. She quickly checked on the other children, Sofia and Zola were curled up together in Sofia's bed, and Bailey was sprawled across Arizona's bed. They would have to move him when they got into bed, but he slept like the dead.

Moving quickly she practically ran back to the living to find Arizona laying on the couch, her legs splayed open. Callie practically launched herself on top of Arizona, fitting herself over the smaller woman. As she pressed her lips to Arizona's, the blonde's leg wrapped around her thigh and her hands found their way under Callie's shirt, igniting a trail of fire across her skin and straight through to her core. The kiss was insistent and harsh and dripping with want and arousal.

Callie couldn't get enough.

Before she was too far gone, several long and tortuous minutes that had dragged on and yet were not nearly enough, Callie pulled back and almost lost all of her self control as she looked down at Arizona. Her lips were swollen and red, her blue eyes darkened with arousal almost a navy colour, her blonde hair was rumpled and tousled (which she couldn't remember doing), and she looked like she was having a hard time catching her breath. She looked absolutely stunning and Callie knew she needed to put some space between them.

"There's only so much a girl can take, you know." Callie breathed, lifting herself languorously from Arizona.

"Another ten seconds of that, and we'd have woken the children." Arizona rasped.

Finally their eyes met, and both women fell into a fit of giggles. They kissed again, but it was relatively chaste, mild for the two of them.

"When do you think we'll be ready, Arizona?" Callie asked. She knew she was out of questions from their history, but didn't know where Arizona stood. It was a genuine question too, not just fishing to see when they could finally make love again.

"Do you have any questions left? Big ones? Scary ones?" Arizona asked, reaching across the couch to take Callie's hand.

"Nope."

"I have one. We have therapy Monday night, so I'll ask Alex if he can take Sofia Sunday night and we can do it then."

Callie just raised her eyebrow.

"The question Calliope, the question. Not… the other thing."

"You know how this works Arizona, we're supposed to be getting physical and then stopping to ask the questions. So what I just heard was 'hey Callie, I'm planning on charming your pants off Sunday night.'"

"Well, I mean, you charmed mine off tonight. Plus, after that it's only another day until therapy. I think we might be ready."

Callie was doing the math in her head, if they got the go ahead on monday, that would be excellent, but they it would be a long time until they were able to be alone together.

"I want you Calliope. Like, I'm so aroused sometimes that it borders on painful. I need you. I will not describe the vividness of how I imagine -" Callie swallowed thickly and placed her finger on Arizona's lips to stop her. This was not helping.

"Dear god woman, stop trying to kill me."

Arizona just kissed Callie's finger and smiled. "Plus my office has an extremely comfortable couch and the door locks."

Callie felt her eyes widen at the insinuation.

888*

Thankfully Alex and Jo had agreed to keep Sofia Sunday night, Arizona had paid for pizza and drinks, and all three were excited to spend some time together. When she had lived with Alex after the divorce, she knew that Jo had been a bit annoyed at having to live with a three year old, but they two had become fast friends. Now at seven when Sofia was a bit more capable as a conversationalist that relationship blossomed. Though Jo had said that if Sofia wanted to watch _Frozen_ again she would kill Arizona.

"Uncle Alex!" Sofia screeched as her favourite man opened the door. Alex looked equally excited and scooped the girl into his arms. It was times like these that Arizona missed Mark greatly, and wondered at what kind of father he would be now. He had been the best dad when Sofia was a baby, but having died shortly after her first birthday, Sofia didn't remember him. Arizona and Callie had both made sure that there were pictures of him everywhere, in their house when they had been together, in each of their houses when they were apart, in her bedroom, neither of them would forget Mark's place in their lives, and the would answer any questions she had.

But the way that Alex had welcomed her into his life, the way that he softened around her, made Arizona happy that she had someone to turn to. Alex and Jo were apart of their village, and Sofia would never want for anything with them around.

"Aunty Jo!" Another screech was heard as the other woman came into the room as Arizona placed the pizza and beer on the island of the loft.

"Hey big girl!" Jo said, taking the girl from Alex's arms. "I'm so happy to see you!"

"Me too! We brought pizza!" Sofia wiggled out of Jo's hold and when she was back on the floor, she grasped Jo's hand and pulled her into the kitchen with Alex.

"It's 'Aunty Jo' now, is it?" Arizona asked, watching as her daughter grasped Alex's hand and was swinging them, holding each tightly.

"If he's Uncle Alex, that makes me Aunty Jo." Suddenly the smile that she wore when she looked at Sofia faltered a bit, and she quickly added "If that's okay?"

"What, Jo? Absolutely! Sofia loves you."

Her daughter's impatience and hunger had won out shortly after, adn Arizona left her with her friends and made her way back to the condo that Callie had moved into when she had moved back to Seattle. It was with fear that she opened the door and walked into the house. It wasn't that she was afraid of Callie, it was that she was more afraid of her own reaction to what Callie would tell her, on this, her last big question.

When she had sat down after that first therapy session and wrote down all the things she wanted to know, the big scary things that she'd never asked, because she lacked courage or didn't care when they happened, Arizona had been surprised to find that there was a lot. That had come up in the second session the next week, the realization that while she and Callie had shared the deep and passionate love, they were both incredibly bad at communicating it with words. The love they shared was communicated physically, and they were _so_ good at that part of their relationship, sometimes Arizona wondered if that was all that sustained them.

But no, there had been moments when they were together where they had used words to express themselves to each other, but they had been too few and way to far between to have built something of substance and strength that could support them when the physical could no longer sustain them. She knew now that was partially why the cheating had been so bad, for both of them. When the primary way you communicated love and affection, the breach of that had done so much damage. Arizona wasn't sure how Callie had ever been able to forgive her for it, but she suspected that it was her heart. The heart that Arizona was sure was powered by love rather than blood.

"Hey Calliope," she said when she found the brunette in the living room. There was already a glass of white wine on the coffee table there, and Callie was waiting for her with a smile on her face.

She was sans pants.

"Wasn't I supposed to charm your pants off?" Arizona asked, sitting beside her on the couch and leaning in for a kiss.

"You're just that good Arizona." Was her response.

Moments later, even before they reached the point they usually reached before they stopped, Arizona pulled back, and watched as a small pout formed on Callie's face. She was so tempted to lean in again.

She was so ready for this to be over. These rules about not taking Callie right here, right now on this couch.

As Callie reached for both glasses of wine she asked "So what's your question?"

Taking a large sip, Arizona looked at Callie and smiled. "I don't know how to begin. It's a simple question, and I really want to know the answer, but Callie, I also want you to know that I am disappointed in myself for never having asked you this before."

"Isn't that what this is about though, to finally ask and know and listen?"

"It is, but still."

"No, I feel the same way. That why didn't we realize that something was wrong with the way we were doing things? Why couldn't either of us see?" She really wanted to know the answer to that one. She knew now that talking was important, sharing was important. They had to learn to rely on articulating their thoughts and feelings and not hide the big things behind sex.

"Mmm?" Callie just nodded, drinking deeply from her glass.

"Yeah. So, you ready?"

"Absolutely."

"What were those four days like for you? When we were all gone?"

How she had never asked in the six years since the crash was unconscionable, but Callie was right. This is why they were doing this.

"Those 87 hours are the worst of my entire life. Worse than my own recovery. Worse than not being allowed to see Sofia after I woke up. Worse than the malpractice suit… just… bad." Callie took a deep breath, a light leaving her eyes as she stared into the fire place, the glass of wine in her hand seemingly forgotten. Arizona couldn't help but stare at Callie.

"At first we didn't know anything was wrong. We all thought you guys were doing your thing. Even when it came time for you to be back, no one knew that anything was wrong. I was sitting on our bed in that night, waiting for you, in that ridiculously small teddy you gave me the year before. I thought that you'd be walking in any minute. Then there was a knock at the door. I had fallen asleep, but the knock… it was ominous. I knew something was wrong instantly. If our lives were a movie, lightning would have flashed. Thunder boomed. It felt like it was happening."

They both sat in silence for a moment, Callie still looking at the fireplace, Arizona still staring at Callie.

"It was Owen and Alex. I guess that they had talked about what they were going to say, what they were going to do because Alex immediately went into Sofia's room. I could hear him doing stuff, getting her ready and talking to her in a soft voice. She didn't cry. She never cries when Alex is holding her. Isn't that strange?" At this Arizona heard the slightly hysterical laugh that Callie let loose. It was quiet and unnerving.

"Owen said 'something's happened' that was it. That was all he said. In that second, I lived an entire life. I knew you were dead Arizona. I felt it with my entire being. You all died. And suddenly I was at the hospital, hooked up to an IV. April and Jackson and Alex were sitting on the floor of my room. April was holding Zola and Alex was holding Sofia and Jackson was just staring out the window. I could see Richard and Miranda and Owen in the hallway talking. The police were there."

"The National Forestry Service was there too, and a sheriff from Idaho. I guess I'd been out for only a couple of hours, but then it hit me again. Something happened. And suddenly you were all dead again, and I felt my heart break."

Arizona watched the tears shimmer in Callie's eyes. She remembered the pain of waiting for Callie at her bedside after the car accident. But then she'd known where Callie was. She knew what had happened. She didn't have to face the uncertainty.

"All we knew was that you hadn't made it to Boise. Owen had missed calls and messages wondering where you guys were, why you hadn't shown up. The Seattle airport had you taking off, but you didn't land in Boise. I know so much of how search and rescue works now, so much technical crap that I never needed to know. But I know that your flight plan was looked at, the route you were supposed to take. I know that the weather service was called to check if you were rerouted due to a storm or something. I know that suddenly calls were being made to airports all across the country to see if a plane landed. I know that one guy called all the airports between Seattle and Boise to see if one of them pinged the plane. I know that when one did the NFS sent people in."

"I also know how massive the United States is now. Like I am consciously aware of the fact that we have millions of acres of National Parks between here and there, and that the number of people needed to search them thoroughly is crazy. It was a rich guy in his own helicopter that found you. He volunteers for search and rescue and he went up in his helicopter and he saw the wreckage. Did you know that? You were saved by a random guy who retired and decided to learn how to fly a helicopter and then spent his days helping with search and rescue."

"I was alone. Derek and Meredith were together, luckily Zola was so small she didn't really understand what was happening, same with Sofia. Mark and Lexie and Cristina. Everyone missed them and were worried of course, I'm not diminishing what they went through, but no one could understand me. My wife was missing. I was the only one that was left behind that knew what was happening. I couldn't even call my dad or your parents? What would I say? 'Hey guys, Arizona is dead. So is Mark. And Cristina and Derek and Meredith and Lexie. They're all dead.' I didn't know what to do. I mean there was nothing I could do."

"The first call we got was that they found they crash site. That was it. They couldn't tell us anything. They didn't know anything, but they couldn't tell us anything. I remembered that you were dead then. I wasn't ready to be a widow. About an hour later we were told that there was one casualty, a woman. But they didn't know you guys. Owen and Miranda ran to the plane, it was Jackson's mom's plane, I wanted to go. I needed to see you for myself. But they were heading to Boise to see you guys."

"A couple of hours later Alex and Jackson and April came back into the boardroom where I had camped out. Jackson and April took Sofia and Alex just wrapped his arms around me and said 'she's alive,' and he was crying. I'd never seen him cry before. And in that moment I was so thankful that you were alive. I was glad that someone else died. But then I remembered that it was one of my friends who had died. It was Cristina or Meredith or Lexie and I was glad that it wasn't you. I feel horrible about that."

Finally Callie looked at Arizona. And Arizona looked back, really looked. She finally understood the depth of her cruelty the night of the storm. How in her anger and rage and hatred she had invalidated everything that Callie had gone through those four days. She knew that Callie must have suffered, must have cried and been heartbroken and alone, so very alone.

"Owen called and said it was bad. You were all so close to death. Cristina was catatonic. Miranda told me that when Meredith told her that you were all to be sedated before they put you on the plane to get you home, she had never seen such a calm fire. She said she knew that if she didn't listen, didn't do what Meredith said, bad things would happen. Mark came first on the helicopter, and I knew. I knew that he was dying. I looked at him and I knew. It was five minutes more that you were there, and you were alive and in front of me, and everything just came rushing back."

Callie took a shuddering breath, tears fell silently, and Arizona wrapped her arms around the woman beside her and hugged her as tightly as she could while they both cried.

"You were dead Arizona." While she had been talking before, there was a monotone to her voice. To her words. But she had spoken clearly. That statement was a breathy whisper. "I had spent 87 thinking you were dead. Every single moment that I had with you flashed before my eyes and the grief turned everything grey. I didn't know how I was going to survive. I had Sofia, so I knew that I would have to find a way to live, to be a third of the parents she had before, but I finally learned the difference between being alive and surviving."

They sat in each others arms, each holding the other woman tighter than they had ever held each other before. Slowly, the tears stopped. The pain of those moments four years ago no longer twisted the knife, but the ghosts of memory still held a power over each of them.

"I remember waking up to see you. I had been okay in Boise. But when I saw you there when we were back in Seattle, I swear I thought I was in heaven. The four days your name was my mantra, I said it so much, picture you so much, holding on to getting to see you one last time, to see Sofia, to hold you both one last time, that when I did see you… I didn't want to trust it Callie. But then you smiled at me."

Arizona pulled away from the brunette, to look into her eyes. "You saved my life Callie. After I kissed you at Joe's, when Gary was there, when you told me you wanted me to be a part of your plan, when you woke up after the accident, when I was freezing to death in the woods thinking of you kept me warm, when you actually and literally saved my life by making the call to amputate my leg. There are a hundred different ways that you saved me Calliope."

Callie leaned forward and rested her forehead against Arizona's, and they gripped each other tighter then. The fire was dying down in the fireplace, wine glasses half full and forgotten on the coffee table. They just sat together, a lifetime of despair and tragedy between them, so much bad luck that if it weren't for the bad they wouldn't have any luck at all. But there was as much happiness and love between them. Their history wasn't a grey landscape dotted with rare moments of light. It was a colourful collection of time and experience that defined who they were as individuals as well as a couple. No single moment had brought them here.

"Arizona," the breathy whisper was back, and it sent warmth through the blonde's body.

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm falling in love with you." Her heart did a funny beat in her chest, and a million butterflies erupted in her stomach. She knew she loved Callie, knew that part of her was always going to love the woman in her arms, but she also knew that there was a difference between loving someone and being in love with them. Knew that she too was falling in love with Callie again.

"I'm falling in love with you too Calliope."


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: So... this is M... near the bottom. Sorry about that. Well, I'm not really sorry.**

Kim Dawson was an excellent couples therapist. Her track record was impressive, though if you were to ask the surgeons of Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital they would tell you to avoid, not just herself, but the entirety of marriage counselling all together. And while Kim could see that they had a point, every couple made of surgeons that had entered couples therapy had ended up divorced, regular people had success.

Her first sessions with Dr.'s Arizona Robbins and Callie Torres were indicative of the pattern that she saw in most couples made of those kinds of people. Strong, Type-A, hypercompetitive, usually right, so self assured of themselves. When she told them about the two kinds of couples she saw, the first was where one partner desperately wanted out but didn't know how to say it, and the second was where they both wanted to fight like hell to stay in it. Four years ago she knew that they were the first kind. She even knew, though she had lied to Dr. Robbins about it in the sessions they had after, that Dr. Torres had wanted out. And while she was trained not to judge or become involved, she couldn't necessarily blame her.

Those two, god those two had so much stuff, bad, horrible stuff, that part of her almost couldn't believe they had made it as far as they had before they saw her.

 _Seattle Grace Mercy Death_ it was called. Still. And those two had their share of it.

And, she had to agree, that Dr. Torres was right. They needed to find themselves, separately, after all the shit that the universe had thrown at them. She didn't know any two people who could have withstood even a fraction of what they two of them had and remained together happily.

But she also knew that sometimes, two people were made for each other. She couldn't tell anyone that, because really she'd stop getting patients, but Dr. Robbins and Dr. Torres? Please, never in her life had Kim Dawson met two people more perfectly made for each other. Her husband, dear sweet Thom, was even rooting for them. Though it had taken them a bit longer to find each other after the divorce, longer than she thought it would take them, she had immediately phoned Thom after the call from Dr. Robbins asking for another few sessions for her and Dr. Torres and she and Thom had screamed like a couple of teenage girls at each other for five minutes.

He didn't know their names, or where they were from, or anything specific that could identify them, and she could never tell him because HIPPA and privacy and confidentiality and all that, but she and Thom had made their own language and he knew what she was saying.

She was so unprofessional about them, away from them, that she should honestly report herself to the board.

But now, six sessions and three months after they reconciled, she knew that she was almost done with them. And she hadn't really even had to do much this time around. She suggested they work on verbal and emotional communication, to build themselves a stronger foundation before they took that next step into a physical relationship, and they listened. This time. But they had been doing that before they even saw her again. They just took it as validation in themselves.

And Dr. Torres had been right. They had found themselves again. Different, but who they were.

It was fucking beautiful.

888*

"So, I think we might be ready. For sex. With each other." Callie started, a bit shyly. Her right hand gripped Arizona's between them on the couch. She always wanted to be touching Arizona. Even if it was just a finger while they were standing close to each other, or having her foot resting against Arizona's thigh while they were sitting on the couch with Sofia.

Something.

Anything.

Sex with Arizona was unlike sex with any other person that Callie had ever been with, and she wanted _desperately_ to have that again.

"What do you think, Arizona?" Dr. Dawson asked.

"So ready. So, so, so ready. Almost."

Callie's head whipped towards Arizona, who was not looking back at her. Or even at the therapist. _Almost?_ What did she mean by that.

"What do you mean by that?" Dr. Dawson asked.

Callie suddenly wondered if Dawson could read minds.

"I mean I am ready and I want Calliope, god it's painful sometimes, but there's one thing that she didn't ask me that I have left to tell her." Finally those impossibly blue eyes turned to her, and Callie felt the fear that had popped up at 'almost' disappear. Could see the desire and arousal on that beautiful face, the face that she loved so much. But could also see the way that her brain was working.

"Actually there's two things. One big and one little."

Callie could see that Dr. Dawson had something to say, or to ask, but she beat the other woman to speaking. "Start with the little thing."

"Oh." Arizona paused, one eyebrow raised in surprise. "Okay."

"I have a surgery scheduled tomorrow, one where I have to take the baby out, do the surgery, and then put him back in. I was wondering if you wanted to scrub in, to assist."

"Yes!" Ever since the night Arizona had drunkenly told her about taking down a dirty doctor and mentioned that she wanted Callie to scrub in with her once, Callie had been thinking about it. She didn't have any surgeries scheduled tomorrow, and barring an emergency she would love to help save a baby.

She hadn't been supportive of Arizona during the fellowship with Herman, but that was personally. When she hadn't been listening to her. But she'd kept up with the miraculous things that Arizona had been doing in Maternal Fetal surgery since then. Had heard the whispers of praise around the hospital, both the one in New York and back at GSM, about the amazing things that Arizona had been doing. She had always known that Arizona was world renowned as a pediatric surgeon, one of the things she had used maliciously in the final weeks of their marriage, but now she was world renowned as three different kinds of surgeons. As a member of the board she knew that one of the wealthiest families in the country came to see Arizona since she saved their son in the womb and every time he was sick since.

Had known that they wanted her to do the surgery on his tonsils, even though Arizona had sent them to Alex.

Had cashed the massive, _multi-million dollar donations_ , they made in her name every time they saw her.

"I would be so proud to assist you in that surgery." Callie felt the way her heart did somersaults at Arizona's smile. "In my anger over the fellowship, I never went to watch one. Even after we were okay before New York I never gave into that curiosity. But I listened to the praise everyone was giving you. I was so proud, I am so proud of you."

"Thank you, Calliope." Callie gripped the fingers between hers. "That's part of the small thing, I have to thank you for taking the break from us. That night, the one where we slept together before the thirty days were over-" Suddenly Arizona's cheeks reddened and Callie felt her's warm as well, as they both looked at Dr. Dawson guiltily.

But Dr. Dawson had a knowing, indulgent smile on her face. "I knew you guys didn't listen. I've been doing this for a long time."

Callie released a sigh of relief as Arizona just said, "Oh."

"Please continue Arizona," Dr. Dawson said, and Callie was sure that the therapist was trying to stifle laughter.

"Anyway, that night I had been studying and practicing for a big surgery that Nicole wanted me to do solo, but then we… you know, and I messed up. I wanted to thank you for giving me space to throw myself into it. You were right about us needing space and time."

"I'm sorry, Arizona." And she was, if she had known she wouldn't have done that. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I think I thought that you were right, that I was using the fellowship to put some distance between us. I did want another baby with you, I still do. But you were so angry about it, rightfully at the time by the way, and then Nicole said she didn't think that I was going to be good enough and then you walked out and everything happened, I didn't want to tell you that you were right then. But what I'm trying to say is that I know you weren't wrong, except about me wanting another baby with you, but we did need time and space apart from each other. So that's why I want to share this surgery with you. You're an excellent surgeon, but you should get to see the miracle of a baby being born twice!"

They had talked already about the good things the divorce had brought them, and Callie knew that Arizona was genuinely thankful. She had since performed 76 successful surgeries on babies still in the womb, and had saved 76 mothers and 87 babies because of her work. And in the four years since the divorce she had been short-listed for the Catherine Fox award three times, and nominated once. She had gotten certified as an OB-GYN without a fellowship, but through hard work and practice. Callie could even remember the text where she said she needed Addison's number for some questions about OB-GYN stuff. Had made that wonderful OB Crash Cart that was now in hospitals across the world. Arizona was brilliant in so many ways, that Callie was continuously in awe of her.

"I am excited, what are we going to do?" Callie had forgotten that they were in therapy, that they were supposed to be working on them as a couple and not preparing for surgery in the morning. Had forgotten that Dr. Dawson was even in the room with them.

It looked as if Arizona had forgotten as well, but they both turned back to their therapist with guilty looks on their faces as she spoke. "Well, I'm glad that you are going to work together, but you can discuss surgery after."

They both nodded, and looked at each other with small smirks. Blue eyes caught hers and they shone with glee.

"Arizona, you said you had one more thing to say." Callie said.

"Right. Okay."

Callie watched as Arizona took a deep breath and smiled at her, felt the way pale fingers gripped hers more tightly, felt the way the thumb of the hands she love trembled as it wrote mindless patterns. So she gripped back and returned the smile, urging her girlfriend to continue.

"You changed me Calliope."

That was not what she was expecting.

"In all the best ways. We've talked about all the women I've slept with, you know about all my past partners. How I was a womanizer. In fact, that's just one of the things I have in common with Mark. But like Mark, I just had to find the one woman. The right woman. I think about him all the time. In fact, after the divorce I was having a hard time putting myself out there, and I wished Mark was there to help me. He wouldn't have, obviously, because I broke my promise to him, to take care of our girls. But because of how you changed me, it was hard. Before you, I was only ever serious about one other person. The rest were one or two nights, maybe even a couple weeks, but nothing that made me want to settle down with someone. I think the 17 months after we got divorced was the longest time I've gone without sex, in like forever."

Callie took a deep breath, she hadn't known that. After the cheating, Arizona had almost instantly jumped in bed with Leah. Callie had kind of expected it, had thought that the divorce would have been a similar situation.

"At first it was because I was so busy with Herman, and then finding a routine with work and Sofia. And then I don't really have an excuse. I said I was busy when people asked, or that I wasn't interested, which was a fraction of the truth. The rest of the truth is that I was waiting for you, even after Heather, I was waiting for you. It took me a long time to fall out of love with you. It wasn't until you brought Penny around that I realized that I had to try. So I went out, slowly and surely, and met a couple women, I didn't sleep with them at first. I was looking for that connection that I had with you."

"The first person I slept with, I cried the whole time. Oh god, it was embarrassing. I think I forgot was sex was supposed to be like when it was fun and carefree. That was one of the ways you changed me. When we were together, outside of the actual physical act of sex, it was amazing. I broke two of my rules with you, that first time. First I waited three dates, like you asked. There was something about you that told me you were worth it, and my god Calliope, you were so worth it. The second was that I stayed the night that first night. I tried to tell myself that it was because you were so close to the hospital, that it was just easier that way, but I knew the real reason. That it was because lying there with you, on those ridiculously blue sheets, was one of the best things that had ever happened to me."

Callie could only stare. Stare at this woman who was sitting beside her, working on _them_ with her. Saying things that Callie had known, but never knew.

"And then, as I told Richard, I found my sluttly stride. I was back to the old Arizona, the player, the one who was hot and wanted, and I realized I didn't have to try that hard to get women to fall into bed with me. I didn't truly fall out of love with you until you left for New York. After court, I realized that I only wanted you to be happy, and knowing that someone else was making you happy, that's when I knew I wasn't in love with you anymore. I still loved you, but it was different. That's why I let you go. That's another way you changed me, you taught me how to be selfless. There were a couple women who I thought could have been another chance for me, but neither of them got that far. But part of it was monogamy, that was you too. Being with one person forever, or at least as long as we were together."

Arizona chanced a look at her again, and they said at the same time "Infidelity aside?" And they both laughed.

"Yes. But you showed me what a beautiful thing it was. One of them, no one liked, but I liked her. But she ghosted me. April had to tell me what that meant. I felt so old. The other, I stopped as soon as you and I started being friends again, well that and she said she didn't like kids." At that Arizona laughed, and squeezed Callie's hand again, and Callie couldn't help but laugh along with her. How the tables had turned.

"Anyway, Calliope, the point of all that was to say that you changed me. And not because you wanted me to be who you wanted me to be, but because being with you, being married to you, being in love with you, has done so much good for me. Yes, my life is different from the way I imagined it would be when I was younger, but what I dreamed of then and what I dream of now… there's no comparison. My life before Callie and my life with Callie and my life after Callie are all different versions of me, but I know now that the best version of me is the one that you helped build."

Callie couldn't stop the tears from spilling out of her eyes if she tried, and she didn't want to.

"Well," Callie jumped a little, and felt Arizona do the same, they had both forgotten that Dr. Dawson was there again. "I think you guys are ready. The strides you've taken these last few months have been amazing. You no longer interrupt each other, to talk over each other. Even when you are frustrated or frightened of what the other says, you sit and you listen. People try to be on their best behaviour when they come to therapy, especially people such as yourselves. But four years ago, I didn't see that. I saw two women who clearly loved each other, but were not committed to each other to make that marriage work. The tragedy the two of you have suffered is unimaginable. I know the whole story, I know all of it. I know what happened to each of you before, during, and after you were apart and I know the toll."

"Arizona, you are going to have to live with PTSD for the rest of your life. You've noticed that you'll be okay for long stretches of time, years even, but then something will trigger you. I've spoken with your trauma counsellor, with your permission, and you have the tools to combat the episodes when they come. You'll have to share those with Callie when you feel comfortable doing so. Callie, while you don't have PTSD, you've suffered immense trauma. I know you have the skills and tools to help, but again, share them with Arizona."

Callie nodded, and saw Arizona do the same.

"This is important. This is part of why I wanted you guys to share these stories. The building of emotional stability is important, and both of you have suffered so much. In your marriage you rarely let each other in, thinking that you and you alone were strong enough to handle it. And you weren't, and there is no shame in that. Now that you know though, about the past, and how it has helped you understand each other's pain, you have to remember this moving forward. Even if we don't see each other again, I want you to continue to be open and honest, completely honest with each other. That is what marriage is, tackling the hard stuff together."

The three women lapsed into silence, each thinking about the past, and more importantly the future. After a minute of silence, Dr. Dawson continued.

"So, yes, I agree that you are ready."

888*

Kim Dawson said goodbye to her patients and saw them out. Before she finished her session notes, she sent a quick text to her husband. _They're totally gonna do it._

Before she was even able to sit at her desk to begin writing, Thom texted back, _YASS QUEEN,_ and she laughed at him. When she had met the two of them for the first time she knew that the marriage they had then was broken. They were both too stubborn to lean on the other, acting in anger and fear about the other leaving or running away or bailing. She wasn't surprised when Dr. Torres had left the room.

She was kind of surprised that Dr. Robbins had let her, and then continued to let her walk away.

And she wasn't surprised when they found their way back to each other, even if it took longer than she thought it would. She'd followed them in the four years since she'd last seen them. She'd watched them grow as individuals, and then with others, but she knew that they were meant to be together.

It was hard to be a romantic in her line of work, seeing the way that people could destroy the people they loved, but when two people as meant for each other as Callie and Arizona were worked and got together and then back together, well that made believing in true love that much easier.

888*

They didn't have the energy to have sex that night, and that was okay with Arizona, because they did something, that while it wasn't better than sex, because honestly sex with Calliope was literally the best thing ever, was still pretty darn great.

They'd fallen onto Arizona's bed and just held each other. They hadn't done that part yet, every time they had shared a bed before then, or even a sleeping space, there had been a child involved. Either their's, or Meredith's, or April and Jackson's. They'd even watched baby Leo, Owen's foster son, once. But they hadn't shared a bed, just the two of them, in almost five years and Arizona couldn't have asked for a more perfect night spent with Calliope.

But now, after having spent the morning apart at work, it was all Arizona could think of. Ripping the clothes off of that amazing body, using her hands and her lips and her tongue to map and relearn every single inch of caramel skin that she used to know better than her own. Her fingertips twitched with the need to touch her, to caress her, to feel the burn that only Callie had ever ignited in her. Her lips were parched with need for Callie, and she had honestly never been more sexually aroused than she was right now than, ever in her entire life, even when she was with her before. It had burned bright and hot, but now it was if the sun had taken up residence in her chest and she felt ready to explode with desire.

They had plans to meet for lunch, with their dumb friends who insisted that they eat lunch with them, so she made her way to the cafeteria to eat stupid lunch with her stupid friends in the stupid cafeteria, when all she really wanted to eat was Calliope.

Her cheeks burned with the explicit image that contained. The way warm skin would caress her cheeks, and hard, muscular thighs would grip her ears, and strong hands would pull her hair when her head was between Calliope's legs. Her tongue between-

Dear god, she needed a cold shower.

"Whoa!" She yelped as strong hands gripped her arm and pulled her into the supply closet near the cafeteria.

She understood then as Callie pressed herself against Arizona and Arizona was held up only by the door and Callie's body pressed firmly against her. She would swear in front of a thousand judges that her prosthetic knee went weak at the feeling of being so womanhandled by Calliope.

Really, all she needed was Calliope.

A small whimper escape her as Callie's tongue worked its way into her open mouth, and her whole body shuddered as one of those strong thighs made its way between between her legs and pressed so rightly against her dripping centre.

She felt her orgasm rushing towards her from out of nowhere, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. "God, oh god Calli- yes, oh god, Calliope I can't-" She whispered. In the five years they had been together, they had mastered the art of coming quietly.

Once, early on in their relationship, they had walked out of an on-call room, hair dishevelled and scrubs rumpled, knowing smirks on the faces of the nurses and orderlies as they had left. Mark had given her a slap on the back later, and said "Good job, Robbins!" When she had looked at Callie to understand, all the other woman had done was blush and show her a text from the man, _Robbins that good in the sack, eh? Right on Torres!_ And she had blushed as well. They had practiced, at home, being quiet. In the bedroom they were still vocal, and god she loved the sounds Callie made as she had her hands, and mouth, on her, but being quiet had it's advantages.

And she was so glad that she remembered, all these years later, how to be quiet. She had missed the way Callie's name got stuck in her throat, " _Calli-Cal-Callio-pe"_ had missed the way that those strong hands held her tightly, had missed the way she couldn't control her hips because she was on her tiptoes with Callie's tigh pressed so tightly, so _deliciously, reverently, and earth shakingly_ tightly against her core.

And now, in this new moment, loved the way that she could feel as her prosthetic hung limply to her left, the way that the rubber sole of the shoe on her left leg drug lightly on the floor as her hips undulated against Callie, offering just a slight bit of resistance that made everything so much better.

"Callie, oh god, I'm going to come, I can't-" She whimpered into Callie's mouth.

And when Callie gripped her back tighter, and moved her thigh closer, and roughly held Arizona's head to her shoulder, and bit her earlobe, Arizona's vision tinged white around the edges and the rushing sound of her orgasam blocked everything around her until all she could feel were the rolling waves of pleasure through her whole body, and everything around her was Callie. Her Calliope.

Minutes later, when she returned back to herself, still wrapped tightly in Callie's strong arms, her face tucked into Callie's neck, inhaling the spicy, citrusy scent of Callie's body wash, all she felt was embarrassment. The whole thing, from Callie pulling her into the closet to her coming absolutely undone in Callie's arms, had lasted barely thirty seconds.

"Are you crying?" Callie asked softly, placing a gentle kiss on Arizona's neck. And dear god, how could she need Callie to do that again, to make love to her again.

"No," she whispered through her tears. She knew why she was crying. Relief, at finally being back in Callie's arms like this, and embarrassment from coming so quickly. "Yes."

She could feel as Callie made to move away from, so she quickly wrapped her arms tighter around Callie's neck and held on. Because now that _that_ had happened, she couldn't deny herself the safety of Callie's body wrapped around hers.

"I'm sorry Arizona, I didn't mean-"

"No, Calliope. Don't be sorry." She heard the apology in Callie's voice, but loved the way that the Latina wrapped her more fully into her arms. "I'm embarrassed." For coming so quickly.

Really, it had been a long time since she had sex, an even longer time that she had desired Callie, and really it had been ten years that she could come undone so quickly in Callie's arms. So she was embarrassed, sure, but she wasn't the least bit surprised.

"For coming so quickly. I wanted it to be special, our first time. Well our second first time."

"Hey," Callie said, pressing her lips to Arizona's forehead, and holding her tighter still. "I feel pretty darn special right now. I feel amazing! I took it as a compliment."

Arizona felt herself sigh, and turned to press her lips against Callie's neck. There she felt Callie swallow thickly, and she was comforted. She didn't regret that it had happened this way, it was kind of perfect actually.

At the same time, they moved to kiss each other again, and Arizona felt herself lifted as Callie moved them away from the door and further back into the closet. God, she always loved when Callie used her strength to lift Arizona like that. It turned her on more than anything else Callie did.

Just as she was slipping her hands under Callie's scrub top, the door to the closet opened and two scrub nurses walked in. They had forgotten to lock the door.

"Seriously, Torres being back is the worst. I'd been working on getting into Robbins' pants for like a year. She's so fucking hot, god." Callie snickered into Arizona's neck, and Arizona quickly placed her hand over Callie's mouth.

"Maybe they'd be interested in a threesome, I don't swing that way, but for Callie Torres? And Robbins, I mean… I get it. I totally get it." The second nurse said, and this time it was Callie's hand that covered her mouth. They stared at each other, and Arizona could only hope that the nurses would leave soon.

"You think she wears the fake leg during sex? I mean I'm not against it, but-" the rest of her sentence was cut off as the two women left the supply closet, and Callie and Arizona fell into each other giggling.

"Should I tell her that the answer to her question, is 'sometimes she wears the leg during sex?'" Callie said, and the fell into laughter again. "Do you even know who they were?"

"No!" Arizona replied immediately, loving the feeling of laughing about this while still wrapped up in Callie's arms. "I have no idea who either of them are!"

They kissed chastely again, and slowly disentangled themselves from each other. Forgetting to lock the door had that effect on killing the mood. By unspoken agreement they made their way to Arizona's office so that she could change her arousal ruined scrubs and underwear, and they walked through the hospital hand in hand.

"She's not wrong though, you are fucking hot." Callie whispered against her ear, and Arizona felt her desire for Callie building again. She was suddenly glad that her office door had a couch and a lock, and she would remember the lock this time.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: So I said this before, but this is an AU. It doesn't follow the timeline as seen on the show because I didn't want Arizona to go to NYC. While I choose to believe that the hope the writers gave us for Callie and Arizona in S14E23 means that they will be back together, I want them in Seattle. So maybe Andrew moved out when Sofia came home in the show, for the purpose of this story he still currently lives with Arizona and Sofia. So stop telling me he moved out. Thanks.**

After their tryst in the supply closet, and Arizona's office, they had made their way to the OR to do the surgery that they had planned to do together, and Callie was amazed at Arizona. The way that every single person in the room listened to Arizona, the way that they worked in silence and reverence. Holding that born, but still cooking baby (as Arizona put it) in her hands as Arizona worked on him, was one of the most magical things she had ever witnessed. DeLuca, who seemed to treat this as old hat, was less impressed than Callie but she could tell that he was treating this surgery with respect and reverence.

And this was one of the best things to have come out of the divorce. That Arizona, who was almost as amazing at teaching the residents and interns as she was as a surgeon, could pass on Nicole Herman's work and create enough Maternal Fetal surgeons so that even more babies could be saved.

She would be writing the Catherine Fox Foundation and the F.A.C.S Board to let them know of their folly for failing to recognize this as its own specialty.

Watching Arizona work though, was nothing short of spectacular. She so wished she could see the concentration in the blonde's face, the way her blue eyes focused on the task at hand, the way her eyebrows spoke volumes as the raised and fell from beneath the line of that stupid butterfly scrub cap that she always wore. God, Callie hated how much she loved that hideous pink scrub cap.

In the silence, both her and Arizona's pager's rang out. The scrub nurse who checked their phones, squeaked loudly at what was written. "Dr. Robbins, Dr. Torres, it's Dr. Karev. He stresses it's non-emergent, but Sofia is in the E.R."

Callie just looked at Arizona, she could feel the panic that was rising on her face and saw it mirrored on Arizona's.

This time Arizona's phone pinged with an incoming text, and the scrub nurse read it out loud. "I know you and Torres are still in surgery, but I've got Squirt. Avery says he needs to do some stitches though, so we need consent. How much longer will you be?"

"About an hour," Arizona whispered. And Callie knew she couldn't leave. She was holding this baby boy. She needed to be with Sofia right now, needed to know what happened, but this baby and his mom needed them as well.

"I'll go be with her," DeLuca offered. And Callie's heart soared with affection for the man. Sofia loved Dr. D, as she called him, and if she and Arizona couldn't be with their daughter she should be surrounded by the people from their village.

"Yes, thank you Andrew. Please tell Dr. Avery to go ahead, and we'll be there as soon as we can." The tall man just nodded, and hurried from the OR, ripping his gown and gloves off quickly and rushed out of the room.

While Callie could tell that Arizona was panicking, her hands moved faster but no less steady than they had before.

"I swear to god Callie," Arizona breathed, "The worst thing we ever did to Sofia was bring her here. This hospital, I mean seriously, so much wonderful things happen here. Good, miraculous things. Beautiful things. It's her family, but man… I just wish she didn't have to get all the crap too."

Callie could only nod. While working here at GSM was a blessing in so many ways, it offered as much pain and heartbreak as it did wonderful things. Some of the best surgeons in the country worked here, a lot of the best surgeons in the country were trained here so it was a good place for pain, but Callie could swear that the hospital was built on some ancient burial ground and was a magnet for as much bad luck as it was good.

"Okay, I was going to ask you to help close, but I'll do that myself, go be with Sofia." Arizona said after fifteen minutes, her soft and small hands helping Callie to place the baby back into his home for the next three months.

"But you-" They should go to Sofia together. She wanted to listen to Arizona, to flee once the baby was back in the uterus, but she also wanted to hold Arizona's hand as they found their girl.

"It's okay. I'll be another 45 minutes, one of us should be with her." Callie's heart broke as she heard the pain and anguish in Arizona's voice. But Sofia knew that they saved lives, it was easier now for her to understand when one of her mother's couldn't be there with her, or if both of them were absent. She was 7 now, and while they hadn't completely explained the horrors they saw in their job, she knew that when one of her mommies was in surgery that it was important.

That was one thing they did together after their divorce, when Sofia was old enough to ask and understand, they had spent over an hour showing her their surgery scars, explaining that the scars meant that someone had done surgery on them, to save their lives so that they could be with her. And while Callie wasn't sure that Sofia had completely understood what they had tried to say, it had eased her discomfort of not having her mommies around.

"Okay," she whispered, backing away from the table as Arizona began the preparations of closing the baby back into the womb. She removed her gown and gloves, watching as blue eyes left hers and focused on her task again. Finally turning around, she ran out of the scrub room and towards the ER.

When she got there, her panic completely left her as she saw her daughter surrounded by her and Arizona's friends. Alex was on the bed, Sofia snuggled against his chest, his right arm wrapped protectively around her middle. DeLuca, she would start calling him Andrew now, was sitting beside her holding her free hand, his knees knocking Alex's. And while the two men glared at each other, their eyes and faces softened and smiled as they looked at Sofia and talked to her. April was assisting Jackson as he was doing the sutures on the palm of Sofia's left hand. Meredith and Maggie were sitting on the end of the bed, each holding one of Sofia's ankles. The six adults surrounding her were all talking and laughing with her, and Callie felt tears spring to eyes.

She stood, transfixed, watching as Sofia's village surrounded her, and comforted her.

"Why the heck are there six surgeons surrounding one patient?" Bailey's chief voice was out, and Callie watched as her usually stern face softened when she saw that it was Sofia sitting on the bed.

"Aunty Bailey!" Sofia said cheerfully, and everyone laughed.

"I guess a seventh wouldn't hurt." And she moved to stand by Meredith, patting Sofia's knee as she joined the conversation. "Where are Robbins and Torres?"

"Surgery!" Sofia yelled, and everyone laughed. It was then that Callie strode forward and made her presence known to the group.

"Nope, mommy's right here!" The smile Sofia offered her made every fear and shred of panic disappear, replaced with loved and joy.

"Mommy!" Andrew moved from his spot on the rolling stool and offered it to Callie, which she took and put her hand over Andrew's, because though the man had moved, Sofia hadn't let go of his hand.

"Hey baby, what happened?" She asked, but it was Alex who pointed over her shoulder. By the ER desk stood the school nurses aide and one of the assistant principals, both wearing matching grim looks. She nodded at them, and indicated that she would be with them in a moment,

"I fell down. Dr. Jackson said I'd need eight stitches though, and that I had to be careful in the future and Uncle Alex said that scars were super duper cool, and Aunt Meredith and Aunt Maggie said that I should say 'super duper cool' instead of what he actually said and then Aunt Meredith slapped his head, and Dr. D said that I would have to wear a glove when I took a bath and Aunty April said that I'd have to be careful when I played with Harriet and Bailey and Zola and Ellis."

Everyone surrounding her laughed as she recounted the last twenty minutes, but she was smiling and happy, and didn't seem to be bothered by the work that Jackson was doing on her hand. Even though her heart hurt seeing her baby, once again, in the ER it was also overflowing with love for the people that surrounded her. Arizona had been right, terrible things happened to all of these people, but the fact that they were still here, surrounding each other with love and care and tenderness, Callie knew that the good outweighed the bad.

And it always would.

Sofia chatted with everyone until Jackson finished his work, and bandaged her hand, and said goodbye to everyone with hugs and kisses when Miranda had said "VIP is finished, don't you all have work to do?" And all the adults dispersed.

When Callie was left alone with Sofia, the adrenaline of the moment passed and her tiny body sagged into the pillows behind her. Finally Arizona rushed into the ER still wearing her scrub cap and made a quick beeline directly for them, sparing only a passing glance at the people from Sofia's school.

When Sofia saw Arizona, she started crying. And before Callie could react, Arizona had climbed onto the bed and took Sofia into her arms, the same tears falling down her cheeks as she rocked and soothed Sofia, fingers combing through their daughters hair, her soft voice whispering a song to Sofia.

"I'll go talk to them," Callie whispered to Arizona, who only nodded at her.

"Hello Dr. Torres, we're incredibly sorry about this." The assistant principal started. He was a small man, and looked exactly like what Callie thought a teacher should look like. Curly brown hair that was always a bit wayward, small thick framed glasses, and a sweater vest.

"What happened?" She asked, accepting the clipboard that April passed her, and began signing the consent forms as she listened to the explanation.

"There was an incident on the playground, Sofia was involved in a small altercation, when she was pushed by another student she stumbled and she landed on a piece of glass."

Callie nodded, knowing that she would have to have a talk with Sofia about physical violence again, and solving problems with her words.

"The student who escalated the altercation to physical violence has been suspended, but due to our zero-tolerance policy, Sofia will also have to be suspended. However as Thursday and Friday are P.D. days, we decided to only discipline her with one day, tomorrow. And she will be welcome back to school on Monday." At least Sofia hadn't started the fight, she was thankful for that.

"Do you know what the fight was about?" Callie asked, handing the forms back to a nurse. She had looked for April, but saw that the red head was beside Arizona and Sofia, covering them with one of the pink blankets from the warmer.

"Yes, well sort of, we aren't sure of the reason for the altercation, but Sofia was defending another student from being bullied. She tried to avoid reacting to the escalation, but when the bully changed from pushing her to the student she was defending she stepped in from of him. That's when she stumbled." Callie's heart soared hearing that, knowing that he daughter was a protector and had tried to avoid getting into the fight in the first place.

"We have the paperwork here, about bringing her to the hospital and the nurses notes as well as the suspension, so you don't have to worry about coming to the school. We also have the contact information of the the other two students' parents, and have passed yours along, if you want to discuss this with them. "Dr. Robbins will have to sign them as well. If you want to bring them to her, we will wait here."

Callie nodded and accepted the clipboard that the nurse behind the desk handed her and made her way back to Arizona and Sofia, back to her family. "Hey," she whispered, noticing that Sofia had fallen asleep cradled against Arizona's chest. The sight warmed her heart and made her fall a little bit more in love with Arizona.

"Hey," Arizona whispered back, her fingers still stroking delicately through Sofia's hair.

"She fell on some glass, do you think we should do some antibiotics?" Arizona simply nodded, and Callie looked around for April and waved the other woman over.

"Yes," she also whispered, noticing that Sofia was asleep.

"She fell on some glass, can you grab some antibiotics and maybe some fluids?"

"Of course," April nodded and moved to get the requested items.

"Sofia has been suspended, because there was a small fight, so we have to sign these forms. She's back to school on Monday though." Arizona's eyes widened at the mention of the fight, but she disentangled her hand from Sofia's hair and reached for the pen that Callie was holding out. She held the clipboard for Arizona to sign. When the blonde had finished, Callie took the pen and Arizona's hand was instantly back, softly stroking and combing through Sofia's hair.

Callie brought the forms back to the vice principal, and as she signed by Arizona's name. Handing the forms back, she watched as April softly inserted the IV in Sofia's uninjured hand and connected the antibiotics and fluid. The touch was so gentle that Sofia didn't wake, but snuggled herself closer to Arizona's chest. Board applied, Arizona took Sofia's hand and tucked around her waist.

Callie could only stare at the two of them. The people from the school were gone, and the ER was blissfully quiet, only one other patient was in the normally bustling room and he was as fast asleep as Sofia was. Leaning against the desk, she just looked at Arizona and Sofia, snuggled together on the gurney. She could tell that Arizona was saying something to Sofia, more likely that she was singing something, but Sofia looked calm and peaceful snuggled in her mother's arms.

This was truly Callie's greatest joy in life, to see the two people she loved the most in the world, happy and content and safe with each other. She'd said, on multiple occasions in malicious and hurtful ways, that Arizona wasn't Sofia's mother. She knew better, with her head and with her heart, had always known, and yes sometimes with a little bit of doubt, that Arizona was Sofia's mother. From the moment that heartbeat rang out, Arizona was as in love with the baby as Callie was. Arizona had forgiven her for those transgressions, had even returned joint custody to her after that heinous court battle that Callie had not just drug Arizona through, but her name and her reputation and her love and devotion to Sofia, but Callie didn't know if she could ever forgive herself.

They had talked about this, multiple times, and Arizona assured her every time that she held no ill will towards Callie for the mistakes of the past, but Callie knew that she still had negative feelings about the way that people talked about her role in Sofia's life. Her mom still resented both Callie and Arizona, her dad had come around, sort of, he still made comments though. Surprisingly it was Mama O'Malley that accepted Arizona as Sofia's mother easiest.

But watching them now, simply lying together and comforting each other, Callie knew that Arizona was always Sofia's favourite parent. When Mark couldn't soothe Sofia when she was a baby it was Arizona he called. When she herself couldn't help, it was _Momma_ Sofia wanted. Sure there had been times when Sofia had asked for her _Mommy_ , had asked for Callie, she had even asked for one of their friends from time to time, but the majority of the times that Sofia asked for someone in particular, it was always Arizona. And Callie didn't even blame her.

"That woman has loved that child so hard for so long." Miranda Bailey said behind her, scaring her slightly, so lost was Callie in watching her family she hadn't noticed the shorter woman's approach. "Fought so hard for her, in so many ways."

"Mmm," was the only way Callie could agree.

"I remember the fight she had with Sloan after the car accident, the way he spoke to her, I didn't think they'd ever be okay. But she ended up loving that boy."

"What do you mean?" It had been strange while she was in the hospital, suddenly Arizona and Mark had been thick as thieves. Arizona had been trying before, to be Mark's friend, because Callie had asked her too.

"When he called her 'nothing,'" Bailey looked at her with confusion. _What?_

"What?" He did what?

"Torres, why do you keep saying 'what' like you don't know what I'm talking about?"

"Because I don't know what you're talking about?"

"Hmm, well maybe you should ask Robbins." Though judging by the look on Bailey's face, Callie knew that Arizona wouldn't say anything if she hadn't already. It's been seven years, almost eight now. Maybe this was one of the things that caused Arizona to have negative feelings about people's perceptions.

"Bailey, please."

"After the first surgery when you came in, we put you in damage control. It was bad Torres. That child's heartbeat was good, but she was still so small. After Addison got here and kicked Fields out for not making sure to give her steroids to help her develop if we had to deliver, we weren't sure how to proceed. And no one really knew who to ask what you'd want, so Webber told them to work it out. Karev said it best, to save the baby we have to save Callie, and to do what we need to do to save Callie might kill the baby. Robbins fought for us to save the baby, that if we terminated to save you, what kind of life would that be for you, she said you wouldn't have wanted to wake up if we made that call. He said that you wouldn't care, that you and he could screw again to make another baby, because Arizona was nothing, she didn't get a say because he was the father and you were the mother and she was nothing."

Callie couldn't feel anything. How had neither of them said anything? How could Arizona have never told her? How could Mark say something so callous and cruel?

"Then when we did have to deliver her and Fields was not doing well, Robbins went all 'She-Hulk' and practically body checked that woman out of the way, and she got Sofia breathing. I always did love a good scuffle in the OR."

That part of the story Callie knew, Mark had told her that part, many times about how Arizona had rushed in and saved Sofia, had used her "wicked good skills" as Mark had put it to save their daughter.

"And then she just kept fighting. She's a good momma bear Robbins."

"Yeah," Callie agreed quietly, falling a little bit more in love with Arizona.

"Anyway, Kepner and Avery discharged Sofia so when that IV is done, take that child home Torres."

"Thanks Bailey." Callie watched as Bailey walked away, and then she made her way back to her family, her mind a swirl of emotions. Anger at Mark, predominantly. Anger at herself for practically saying the same say things to Arizona. A little bit of anger for neither of them having given her the whole story. Not that she blamed them, really.

"Hey, how much longer?" She whispered, sitting behind Sofia who was still asleep snuggled into Arizona's chest.

Arizona looked at the IV stand, "About half an hour, we should let her sleep until then. She had a long day."

"Yeah," Callie agree, placing her hand on Sofia's back and just looking at Arizona.

"I know it's technically my night with her, but you should come home with us." Arizona said quietly, impossibly blue eyes turned toward Callie. While they had shared a bed with Sofia often at either Arizona's house or hers, they hadn't told Sofia that they were seeing each other again yet, so they had opted to revert to the schedule they had kept before they'd left for New York. But after a day like this, first taking Arizona in the closet and then spending a salacious hour in Arizona's office, and then with this whole thing with Sofia, Callie didn't want to be away from either of them. And while her mind had added _ever again_ , at the end of that sentence, they wanted to ease Sofia into the idea that her mothers were together again.

But in this moment, knowing now what Bailey had told her, Callie didn't want to wait any longer. Even though tonight was not the night to be having this conversation, as soon as she had kissed Arizona in Tim's old bedroom three months ago she knew that working back to having them be a family under one roof is where they were moving too.

"Okay," she agreed, and felt her heart soar at the way that Arizona's smile grew and her eyes twinkled. "Is Andrew home tonight?"

"Yeah he is, but you know he'd be happy to stay somewhere else." Truthfully Callie did feel a bit guilty at all the times she'd force the man out of his own home and bed these last few months.

"No, that's okay. When I came down here he was holding her hand, she didn't even let his go to hold mine. Traitor." Though her words were harsh, she said it with affection. She was glad that Sofia loved the man. One of her favourite pictures that Arizona had sent her at Christmas was of Sofia sitting on Andrew's shoulders while the two were wearing ugly sweaters and reindeer antlers.

"Okay." Arizona removed her hand from Sofia's hair, and placed it on top of Callie's, filling her with warmth and affection for the blonde.

888*

Later that night, after Andrew had made everyone his grandmother's secret sauce, which he shared with Sofia, but she was sworn to secrecy from sharing it with her mother's, and the four of them ate dinner and watched a movie, Callie and Arizona were sitting on the couch cuddled together under a blanket as a movie played in the background.

Arizona was so thankful that Callie had been there today. Not just for the sex or the surgery, but her strength and compassion in the ER with Sofia. It was a strength that Arizona had depended on many times in their first relationship, and a strength she knew she would need in the future.

"I need to talk to you about something," Callie had started quietly. Those words no longer sent Arizona careening into fear and the desire to run away. Therapy had done wonders for them as a couple, and personally that was one of the things that she had learned. She didn't like to be challenged personally, and while if anyone else had said those words to her she knew that she would feel the way she used to with Callie, but when Callie said them, she knew that it was important.

She also knew that it was probably important to work on those things in her relationships with others. She'd work on it.

Giving her full attention to Callie, Arizona couldn't help the smile that spread her cheeks as she looked at the woman she was quickly falling in love with, "What's up?"

"About what Mark said to you, after the car accident. About you being nothing." Arizona could tell that Callie was hesitant to have this conversation, she was too, but probably for different reasons.

"I didn't think you remembered that." She said with partial honesty. Though the whole truth was that in those dark days, of therapy and the custody trial that she thought that Callie was siding with Mark.

"What?" Callie asked, an eyebrow raising in question.

"I mean, I know you were unconscious when I told you he said that, but I didn't think it mattered, it doesn't. Well, I mean it does sometimes cross my mind when other people say similar things."

"I didn't know he said that, Bailey told me today."

"Oh." She swallowed, she understood the fear and hesitation that she could see on Callie's face now. Reaching up to smooth the worry lines on Callie's face, she ran the back of her fingers across Callie's cheek loving the way that the Latina leaned into the touch. "Mark and I, you know we were okay after that. Even before we knew you were both going to be okay. Every time something happened with Sofia he would ask me to explain what it meant for premeis and babies. He knew stats and stuff from adults, but we talked a lot about medical stuff. He'd have been a good peds surgeon, he learned so much so fast."

"It was still wrong of him to say, to think." Callie replied, lifting her hand to cover Arizona's on her cheek.

"He was scared Callie, he loved you both so much, he was your best friend. You were his best friend, he was just scared."

And that's what she'd come to realize after Callie had woken up. Because she felt that same fear, wondering if they were going to be okay. They were a team now, she and Mark, and they would need each other. His words still haunted her, gave her trepidation sometimes, but he was right about him being a dad and her being a mom.

"He was the first person to call me Sofia's mom. You and I had bounced around the term, we talked about co-parenting and being parents, but we never used that word before. He was the first person. Did you know that? Even my parents said 'Callie's baby' before they met her."

"I guess I'm just, I don't know, shocked I guess, that neither of you told me. When I was conscious." Callie said with a laugh.

"Well I mean, would you have responded favourably towards him if he had? No, you wouldn't have. And like I said, Mark and I were okay. We were more than okay, we were friends. I wouldn't have chosen Mark to be my friend, but because we both chose you he came as part of the deal. And I'm glad because you were right, I got to know him, and love him."

Arizona leaned forward and kissed Callie's cheeks, then rested her head on Callie's shoulder entwining their hands and pulling them to her chest.

"I miss him. I miss him for Sofia, and for you, and I miss him for me." Arizona whispered, an unexpected tear falling from her eyes. She could hear Callie crying as well.

"I'll go for days, or for weeks, or for months without missing him. He's always there, somewhere in the back of my mind. But Sofia has his smile, you know. The way that his eyebrow would crinkle just a little bit when he was really happy. It doesn't happen often, but when that smile comes out I just remember sitting by his bed, holding his hand, me and Derek both crying, and it hits me right in the stomach and it hurts how much I miss him." At Callie's words, Arizona felt more tears gather and fall.

"Me too. I see all three of us in her. But sometimes, I look at her and all I see is him and it takes my breath away."

They lapsed into silence, each remembering and missing him.

"About a year after you left, I stole a set of scrubs in his size and found one of his lab coats. I know you kept his stethoscope for Sofia, but I also found out that Jackson has some recorded surgeries that Mark did. You can't see him, well his face but you can see his hands, and hear his voice explaining what he was doing. I know it's not a lot, but I had him make copies so that when Sofia is old enough to watch them, she can hear his voice."

"How are you not mad at him for saying that Arizona? I'm a little bit mad."

"Please don't be mad at him, Callie. Being with you has taught me the power of forgiveness, the importance of it. I'm not going to lie and say I don't think about it now and then, that it doesn't come back to me when I think I'm being a bad mother, but I've forgiven him just as I forgave you." And she had.

"Still, he shouldn't have said it."

"He was scared Callie. We've all said things in fear and anger that we didn't mean."

"Well I plan to be mad for a little bit, like maybe another thirty seconds."

"That's fair, and when you're done being mad come to bed with me."

888*

Alex Karev couldn't believe that this was happening. Not the dinner party, though this house had had far too many awkward dinner parties for any of them to think of trying again, but all of them together in this house couldn't be a good thing. While he could see that everyone else was having a good time, he was not.

Or at least he was pretending he was not. In fact, he was having a great time.

But he was currently sitting at a children's table, imaginary tea in hand, and sparkly princess crown on his head.

He was glad that the rest of the adults were outside wrangling the rest of the kids, and that Jo wasn't here. Though they had spoken about starting their own family recently he wasn't sure that he was ready for her to see him like this. He wasn't embarrassed, having had many tea parties with Sofia, Zola, and recently Harriet and Ellis in the past, but he was a grown ass man, he shouldn't have to wear a sparkly plastic crown to drink imaginary tea.

Apparently the crown was non-negotiable.

And so he sat, crown on and tea in hand, while he waited for Sofia to return. She hadn't said where she was going, but Squirt promised that she would return soon.

He did feel a bit foolish wearing the crown when one of the children weren't around, but as he wasn't certain when she would return, he opted to keep it on. Sometimes, when she glared at him, he could see the glares of Torres, Robbins, and Sloan directed at him and even though he was Chief of Pediatrics now, some scared resident that still lived inside of himself feared that look.

"Uncle Alex, I brought a friend!" Sofia's voice reached his ears, and he turned to see Sofia dragging DeLuca by the hand behind her, apparently to join their tea party.

"Crap," he muttered. He still felt really bad about almost killing the guy, and then almost ruining his surgical career. The guy had potential, even he could admit that, but the relationship was strained. And he knew all of it was his fault. For the beating, for taking so long to apologize, for not supporting him more after the custody battle when he was one of the only people stand up for Robbins. And he loved Robbins, and had wanted to help, but he also really liked Torres. He should have supported all of them, especially DeLuca when the guy put himself on the line to help.

But now they sat in that uncomfortable silence, trying not to glare at each other because Sofia was paying attention. He knew that Sofia loved both of them, heck she had lived with both of them, separately of course, and the little squirt could love like nobody's business. When Sofia had been in the ER last week, he pushed away the uncomfortable feeling he felt towards DeLuca for Sofia's sake, they were both there for the kid, and he wouldn't let his own feelings get in the way of hers. He loved her too.

"I have to talk to you guys about something," the young girl said into the silence, placing an identical sparkly crown on DeLuca's head, the tone of her voice and words years beyond the imaginary tea party the three of them were currently having.

" _Cos'e la mia piccola principessa_?" He heard DeLuca ask. Why couldn't the dude speak English? But then, judging by the look on Sofia's face, the way she smiled at him, she knew what he was saying.

"I heard Momma say that you guys weren't friends because you got into a fight," she started, and she could see the way that she was nervously looking between them. The kid was seriously too smart and perceptive for her own good. Maybe she had seen the way they glared at each other, or the way that he avoided going over to her house when he knew that Andrew would be there. "Is she right?"

Alex snuck a look at DeLuca, and he could see the question on the other man's face. "Yeah squirt, it is. I hit him." And while that was true, it was so far from the truth that he shook his head. But he didn't need Sofia to know how much of an abusive ass he was. Didn't want her to know, either.

"Did you apologize to Uncle Andrew, Uncle Alex? Mommy and Momma say that apologizing is very important when you do something bad. They say that you should always mean it too, and it's important to actually be sorry too, not just say it." God damn this kid.

He took a sip of his imaginary tea to stall. But luckily it was DeLuca that answered for the both of them, "He did apologize, _principessa,_ and he did mean it," DeLuca threw him a look over Sofia's shoulder.

"Then why aren't you friends Uncle Andrew? Did you forgive him." Sofia asked, looking between them. Alex gulped wishing that his tea cup was filled with something other than imaginary tea.

"Well, _principessa,_ it's hard to explain, I mean," DeLuca fumbled, and he too took a sip of his tea.

"Squirt, look at me," Alex asked Sofia, who finally turned her full attention to him. There was that Robbins/Torres/Sloan look, and it still terrified him. "It was wrong of me to hit Andrew, I shouldn't have done it. I should have used my words, like your mommies taught you, right?" She nodded, reaching for his hand which he willingly gave her. "But sometimes, when adults make mistakes, it can take a lot of work to forgive each other. And I made a big mistake, and I did apologize, but you know it isn't always easy to do. Do you know what I mean?"

She nodded again, and reached behind her for Andrew's hand, and they stayed that way in silence for a little bit, the little girl holding the hands of two people she loved, who didn't really even like each other, while she thought about what he said.

"You're right, _principessa,_ I should forgive Uncle Alex." Alex whipped his head up to look at Andrew, and was surprised when he didn't see any deception on the other man's face.

Then suddenly Andrew was holding his hand out to Alex, and he only hesitated for a second before he shook the other man's hand. And suddenly both of them were pulled towards each other by the tiny arms that circled both of their necks and pulled into a hug with Sofia and Andrew.

Before either of them knew what was happening, Sofia planted sloppy kisses on each of their cheeks and then fled from the room, presumably to go play with the rest of the kids. They sat awkwardly for only a moment before they both stood and turned to see Robbins standing in the doorway.

888*

Arizona had watched as Sofia pulled Andrew towards the playroom where she knew Alex was waiting, she had seen him with the pink crown on his head, and she knew that her daughter had pulled her favourite Uncle into the room earlier. She had followed out of concern, knowing that they two men still had some unresolved issues between them.

That had seriously been one of the hardest moments of her life, trying not to pick sides between two of her favourite people. She'd loved Alex for a long time, he was an excellent doctor and the way that he had taken to Sofia and worn the mantle of "Uncle" with pride and grace, made her extremely happy in so many ways. And while Andrew had been hesitant to live with a seven year old, he too had instantly welcomed the little girl into his life with open arms. And to have witnessed the way Sofia had changed from calling him Dr. D, to Uncle Andrew, warmed her heart even more. She hadn't done a good job of not picking sides in the turmoil of two years ago, but both had stayed with her.

But she needn't have worried it seemed. She knew that neither man would lie to Sofia, both of them loved her too much to be that callous, she was sure that they would move forward. While they may never be friends, and honestly she wouldn't blame either of them for that, at least they wouldn't glare at each other anymore. Or she hoped, at least.

On her way out of the room after her mini lecture to the two men, she had stopped for a brief hug, then ran to the backyard where the rest of the party was happening. She turned back to the room and saw the surprise on both Alex and Andrew's faces as they saw her there.

They reached her at the same time and each of them took one of her hands when she offered them to the guys. "Thank you Alex," she leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, much like Sofia had done. "Thank you Andrew," and she did the same to the other man. Both of them blushed at her thanks, and they moved towards the backdoor together, each of them still wearing their sparkly crowns.

"Guys," she said when they were a few steps away, and laughed as they both turned back to her expectantly. She closed the distance and plucked the crown's off of their heads and they both mumbled thanks, and turned to leave again.

She watched them go their separate ways in the backyard, and returned the crowns to the playroom, happy that her daughter felt comfortable with each man and herself to have done what she just did. She and Callie had done something so miraculously right to have such an amazing child, and she would remember to thank Callie, once more and not for the last time, for Sofia.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Longer note at the bottom.**

"So, Torres," Jackson Avery began, "how's the contract with the NHL coming?"

Callie Torres sighed, frustrated with the progress of that contract. Though she had been recommended by the doctors of the New York Rangers, the Seattle management was concerned with her lack of sports medicine training. Which she found truly insane, because she was a double board certified in Trauma and Orthopedics, and had dabbled in sports medicine, the issue was with pay. They still wanted her on the recommendation of the Rangers medical staff, but they wanted to pay her below market value for her place on the team.

Which was ridiculous, she was a rockstar, a badass, a freaking orthogoddess and she was worth more than what they offering. Even after being on this side of the medical business, the side of bureaucracy and paperwork, and she knew how salary negotiations worked, she was still frustrated.

"It's good, there's some issues with pay right now, but we're working it out. They are okay with me being on the board though, and I've spoken with both the Seahawks and Mariners and they support my working for the team. As I won't be part of the travelling medical team, except for playoff situations, I'll be able to cover both. Luckily there isn't a lot of overlap except April to June, and October. I was also able to secure a set of two season tickets for the hospital to use as it sees fit as part of the contract."

What she didn't add was that part of the deal was an additional set of tickets for Arizona and Sofia, and even some of their parents if they were ever in town, on a game by game basis. They weren't season tickets, but she just needed to give them two weeks notice. Sofia didn't know what hockey was, and she didn't really care about the games, and neither did Arizona, but they were all excited to be there.

"The next step is for me to meet with a sports medicine consultant, I'm looking into attending the boards for certification this spring. I'm comfortable with my skills, but the front office will offer more money if I were certified. I'm meeting with Dr. Eliza Minnick-"

Suddenly Meredith, who had been taking a drink, spit water over the table and started coughing. Richard had sworn under his breath. Bailey and Jackson just stared at her with wide eyes, eyebrows raised.

Finally looking at Arizona, who wasn't looking at her, but was focused on patting Meredith's back and Callie could see the way that her cheeks were flushed red.

"What did I miss?" She asked with uncertainty.

And no one answered. The silence that descended was one of the most uncomfortable silences she had ever been a part of.

Unable to stand it anymore, she whispered "Arizona?"

After a long, torturous heartbeat Arizona looked at her and only whispered "Ghosted." Begging with her eyes and posture for Callie to understand.

And she did. _Oh damn._

Callie felt her own cheeks flush, and a wave of jealousy over take her. All Arizona had told her about the woman who had ghosted her was that she had felt that she could really like her, that she had really liked her and then suddenly she was gone without a word. She had also said that she appreciated the communication, even when it was tense and uncomfortable, from Callie after they had broken up. All of the times they had broken up. How much she appreciated knowing what was happening, even if all thy had done was argue.

Finally, it was Richard who spoke, "How did you choose Dr. Minnick?"

"I didn't! She was recommended by the doctor from the New York Rangers, when I asked who he thought I should speak to."

"Did you mention GSM? What hospital you worked for?" This was from Meredith, who had thankfully recovered from her earlier spit take, and was now rubbing small circles on Arizona's shoulder.

"No, I just said who I was and why I'd like to talk to her. We're meeting at a cafe near Seattle Pres." Which she had found strange at the time, but now she understood. When they had spoken on the phone two weeks ago, Dr. Minnick hesitated for a brief second when she asked to meet in Seattle. But now Callie realized that she probably wanted to avoid Arizona, and GSM.

"Minnick was the consultant GSM hired two years ago to help revamp the residency program." Everyone got a grim look on their face at that, and Bailey looked slightly ashamed.

Clearly, she had missed a lot.

"I'm sorry, I can cancel, I mean she's coming tomorrow, but I can cancel and get someone else."

Once again, no one said anything for a long moment.

Slowly, all eyes on the room turned to Arizona. Whatever happened between the staff of GSM and Dr. Minnick was obviously less important than what happened to Arizona, and they were all putting the decision on her. And Callie could tell that that made her uncomfortable. She could see the weight of the decision weighing heavily on her girlfriend, could see the heavy set of her shoulders and the way her downcast eyes were looking at her, but not really meeting her eyes.

"Did you do your research into Dr. Minnick? When the Rangers guy recommended her to you, I mean? Do you think she's the best doctor to help you?" Callie's heart swelled, realizing that Arizona was putting Callie's career before her own personal feelings.

Callie wanted to cancel, just to spare Arizona.

"There are other sports medicine specialists," that was weak, and even Callie had known it. Because it wasn't just Dr. Carlson from the Rangers. Eliza Minnick was a household name in the field, and Callie knew she was the best person to help her.

"I'll cancel, it's ok-" she began, but Arizona cut her off.

"Callie, talk to Dr. Minnick. She's good at her job, and she'll help." Arizona nodded, seemingly to herself about something, and Callie watched as Meredith leaned forward and whispered something in the blonde's ear.

It seemed that had derailed the rest of the meeting, and the rest of the group started to file out of the board room. Reluctant to bring up something painful from Arizona's past that she hadn't been a part of, Callie only hesitated for a second when Arizona began to stand up, "Arizona, wait. Please."

The blonde sat back down, and Callie moved to sit in a chair close to her. When she sat down, her heart was elated that Arizona has reached out and took one of Callie's hands.

"I'm so sorry Arizona, if I had known I would have asked someone else."

"No, I know you would have Calliope, I just never thought I'd have to see her again."

"You won't! I promise. But if it bothers you, I don't have a problem cancelling. She doesn't have to come here. I can ask someone else."

"Before you and I started dating, before I kissed you in Joe's bar and all I knew about you was your name, I read the couple papers you had published. And even after we were dating and married and divorced I still read all your papers. I don't know, I've always thought you could have a good idea about what kind of doctor someone was by their papers. Do you know what I mean?"

Callie was simultaneously pleased and incredibly touched learning that about Arizona. She had read some of Arizona's, especially the ones that had her shortlisted and nominated for the Catherine Fox Awards, and she agreed with Arizona. You could tell a lot about a doctor by the papers they wrote and published.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well I did the same with Eliza, with Dr. Minnick. And she's a really good doctor Calliope, and she's a good teacher. Actually there was one of her papers, about regenerative cartilage and fully restored functionality that made me think of you and your past work."

"I read that one, it was good. She actually cited my paper about growing cartilage in it too."

"I know, that's partially why I thought of you. It still makes me a little sad that you publish under 'Callie Torres.'" And Callie couldn't help but laugh a little. The first time Callie had shown Arizona one of her papers published in the Journal of Orthopedic Surgery, the blonde had made her sign it. And then sign it again with her 'real name' when she signed 'Callie' the first time.

"Arizona, I don't want to hurt you again."

In response, Arizona leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Callie's lips, which she couldn't help but moan in response too. And she didn't want to hurt Arizona. They'd only been back together for four months, and things were really good between them. She was still a little afraid of the past, of all the ways that Arizona had hurt her, of the ways she had hurt Arizona. Afraid that something would happen and ruin all that progress. Especially now that Sofia was old enough to understand, and while they hadn't told her yet, they had been talking about it for a little bit now. If they told her, and then went their separate ways again Callie didn't think that Sofia would understand this time.

"Well, to be honest Callie, you're probably going to. And I'm probably going to hurt you too. That's what happens when you're with someone." Arizona soothed, leaning forward to kiss Callie again. "But this isn't going to hurt me, I promise."

"Are you sure?" Because she wasn't sure.

"Yes, Calliope. I'm sure. You're an incredible doctor, an even better surgeon, and you're so smart. You deserve to learn from someone who's good too. Not as good as you, obviously." She added with a wink, and another kiss. "Plus like you said, if you get certified you get more money, that means more presents for me and Sofia and more for her college fund. It's like a win win win. That's three wins!"

Callie was still unsure, and though she was comforted by Arizona's words, she didn't want to do anything that rocked the boat.

"But, if she finds out you work here and she wants to see your lab or something, give me a heads up. I'll go hide somewhere. I don't know where, I'd like to hide with the babies like I always do, but she was here when I was covering for Karev in peds." Callie was glad that the words were said with a smile, but she still felt uneasy.

777*

Sitting in the cafe and waiting for Dr. Minnick was torturous for Callie. She was generally an impatient person, and though Minnick wasn't late, Callie couldn't wait for this meeting to be over.

Because she was also jealous, which she knew she had no right to be, and she didn't begrudge Arizona having a relationship, she was the one that divorced her, she still felt the eerie green energy of jealousy flowing through her. But Arizona was right, Dr. Minnick was an excellent sports medicine doctor and Callie was eager for help. That was the Torres method, get the best at what they do and dissect everything they'd done in the OR to understand everything.

Still, to this year, Webber sent select interns and residents to her for help, the select few who trained under the Torres method for their exams always went on to great things.

"Dr. Torres?" A woman asked, all dark hair and blue eyes.

She stood quickly, and asked "Dr. Minnick?"

"Hi, yes that's me. Eliza, please."

Callie gestured to the other chair at the table, and wanted to say that she was still just Dr. Torres, but she couldn't exactly be rude. She needed this woman's help, so instead she offered, "Callie."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Callie, I've followed your work for a while now and meeting you now is like a professional dream come true!"

While Callie was warmed by the praise, she still couldn't help but feel uneasy about the interaction and now, seeing the woman in front of her, she had to grudgingly admit what had drawn Arizona to her. She was beautiful, in some kind of way, but she had also hurt Arizona and that wasn't acceptable.

"Thank you, I've been given a lot of opportunity for research and experimentation." Not to mention she was a rock star.

"And you won the Catherine Fox last year too! That's amazing."

Callie could see where this was going. Dr. Minnick was on a fishing expedition. And that made Callie angry. She still remembered Arizona's little speech from the ceremony, how she said that Callie had inspired her, and then they had kissed, and then gotten back together, and how, most importantly, Arizona had said that they used to be married.

"Thanks, yeah. It was a honour to even be nominated."

"So you're back in Seattle, did you come back only for the NHL expansion?" _Or something else too_ , Callie heard the unasked question, the unspoken words, the way that Minnick's eyes were begging for information about Arizona. And Callie could remember what that was like. After Arizona had left for Africa, Callie had done the same thing to Teddy, had needed to know. And while she was still angry at the woman across from her, she could sympathize a bit.

"Yeah, I'm back at Grey Sloan, as a member of the board it's part of my job to bring prestige to the hospital, and having a doctor work for such an important facet of Seattle sports will bring a lot of people to us. Plus, I'm back with the Mariners and Seahawks." And Arizona, she wanted to add, thinking of the supply closet and the blonde's office, and the on-call rooms. Then jealousy raged in her heart at thinking of Arizona sharing those spaces with Minnick.

"Hmm," was all the other woman said, and Callie was grateful she seemed reluctant to ask, because honestly Callie didn't know what she would say if she had asked.

"Well Dr. Carlson said you would be attempting the boards in a couple month, so let's talk about that." Callie sighed, shifting into student and business mode.

888*

Hours later, Callie finished with Dr. Minnick without further mention of GSM and she was making her way back to the hospital on a mission to find Arizona. Walking into the ER, the first person she saw was Kepner, and Callie made a beeline for the redhead who was working behind the admitting desk.

"Do you know where Arizona is?" Callie asked, she could feel the need in her voice.

"Hello to you too, Dr. Torres." Callie was surprised by the anger in the normally soft spoken voice, the protection for Arizona she could feel rolling off of Kepner, hitting Callie in waves.

"Sorry. Hello Dr. Kepner, do you know where I can find Dr. Robbins?" Callie asked.

"I do know, and I'll tell you, but you're going to listen to me first, okay?" Callie's eyes widened in shock, who was this Kepner? The woman she remembered was not this forceful or combative. She kind of liked it. She liked it a lot.

"I need you to say okay Callie. That you're going to listen to what I have to say, and that you'll think of what I say. Say okay, Callie."

"Okay." She really liked this Kepner.

"You hurt Arizona, Callie, a lot. And I know she hurt you too, but she's my friend, and as her friend I'm cautious about this… this whole thing going on between you two." Callie almost laughed at the way that Kepner waved her hand up and down her body, but she knew that this Kepner, Kepner 2.0 would not appreciate it, so she kept quiet. "I told her it was okay for her to have feelings for you again, that life rarely gave us second chances and that we should take the possibility for them when it came. Because I know how much she likes you, how much she loved you. Maybe even loves you now. But I also remember hearing you tell people she died in the plane crash, that you were a widow. I remember picking up the pieces after you left, and I remember the way that it took her a long time to fall out of love with you. I'll do it all again because I love her, and she's Harriet's godmother, but I don't want to Callie."

"She's the happiest I've seen her since the plane crash, and I know that's to do with you and Sofia being home, and to do with you and her. Do you understand?"

Callie could only nod. Kepner 2.0 was hard core. And kind of scary.

"And if you break her heart again, I swear to God Callie Torres, I will end you."

Kind of really scary. Because she believed that Kepner would end her.

"I understand."

Suddenly Kepner's eyes returned the warmth that Callie remembered, and a smile softened the murderous look in her eyes from before, when death threats were uttered, all traces of Scary Kepner were gone, they still simmered under the surface, and Callie was afraid to wake the beast again.

"I'm going to do everything in my power to not hurt her again. I'm going to try really hard to make this work, to make her happy, she's it for me."

"I believe you Callie, but I don't think that those things alone can prevent it from happening again. It's not like you tried to hurt her in the first place or she you, but shit happens. I know that and you know that. We all know that Callie, you and Arizona maybe more than anyone know that, but we need to work through it."

Callie swallowed and just looked at April, just watched as a myriad of emotions crossed the younger woman's face. For the second time in her life, Callie was thankful for April Kepner.

"She's in the CICU with Harriet." Was all Kepner said, turning away from Callie and going back to her work.

"Thank you April." Callie said moving away from the desk and heading towards the elevators, towards Arizona.

"I'll end you Torres!" Was shouted at her as she left the ER, and Callie smiled, glad that Arizona had found such a strong and capable friend in April.

777*

Maggie Pierce was confused. When she'd gotten to Grey Sloan Memorial she hadn't expected to make friends as fast as she had. Making friends had always been difficult for her, due to the age thing, and the genius thing, and all the other things, but the people at GSM had welcomed her pretty quickly.

Arizona was one of the first people to be her friend. It was strange, remembering the difference in the blonde woman from from four years ago. She seemed really uncertain of herself, personally. Not professionally, no Maggie could see that Arizona Robbins was an excellent surgeon and doctor, and she could also see that Arizona thought those things about herself. She admired that about Arizona, about her confidence.

And Maggie had watched over the last four years as Arizona had grown to be comfortable in her personal life as well. Having learned about the plane crash that took Arizona's leg only two years before she met the woman, and the other bad things that had happened to her, made Maggie only admire her more.

But this, now, the way her smile changed as Callie came into view, this confused her. The Arizona she knew was kind of a player, she liked women. A lot of women. And Maggie knew that a lot of women liked her too. She knew that Arizona and Callie had been married before, and that Arizona had cheated, but she hadn't known the whole story then, she kind of thought that was just what Arizona did. But seeing this smile, the way that Callie climbed onto the gurney behind the blonde and wrapped her arms tightly around Arizona and Harriet, and the way that Arizona leaned into Callie and those arms, she knew that she had been wrong about them. When she first met them they were angry people, not just with each other, but with everyone. They'd softened each other now. They were both still brilliant and fierce, but different.

She liked it.

"Hey," Meredith shouted from the hallway behind her, and immediately Maggie waved her over and shushed her.

Checking around the corner again she breathed a sigh of relief that neither Callie or Arizona had heard Meredith's shout in the quiet of the CICU, and were solely focused on each other and April and Jackson's baby.

"What's up?" Meredith whispered at her shoulder, peeking around the corner with her at their friends.

"That? What's that?" She asked.

"Oh, that's Callie and Arizona," Meredith said with a smile.

"I know who they are, I mean… they're not arguing or shouting or glaring or… angry."

"No, Maggie, I mean that's classic 'Callie and Arizona,' they're finding each other again."

Maggie was even more confused now.

"Did you know that they got married the same day as Derek and I did?"

"No."

"Yeah, we were about to head out to their wedding when the social worker told us that adopting Zola would be easier if we were married. So we went to the court house instead, and then we spent the night with Zola instead, by accident. We each just kept wanting a few more minutes with Zola and we missed it. They weren't even mad. We exchanged presents after we apologized, they gave us stuff for Zola. I honestly think they were happier for us than they were for themselves."

Maggie turned away from the couple and baby down the hall and looked at Meredith. She could tell that Meredith was sad, probably missing Derek and thinking of that day fondly.

"Is it hard for you, seeing them together?"

"No, yes, no. No. Well a little. But mostly no. Callie and I… we had a rough journey to friendship, you don't need all the details. But like I told Nathan, and like I told Kepner, and like I will tell everyone who gets a second chance, if it were me and Derek and I got a second chance to be with him, I'd already be gone."

Looking back at Callie and Arizona, Maggie felt herself smile for the first time watching them.

"I like this change in them."

"Me too. When we were in the woods after the plane crash, near the end all Arizona said was 'Callie' and 'Sofia,' and then the leg thing happened and the cheating, I don't know. I got to watch them fall in love and then have Sofia and then that anger at each other after, it was strange. I knew Arizona loved her, I heard the way her voice changed in the woods when she said Callie's name, but that changed us. It changed all of us. I'm happy for them."

Maggie smiled at Meredith and turned to look back at Callie and Arizona, and blushed when she noticed that they were watching her and Meredith stare at them. She and Meredith offered awkward waves, and turned away from the couple, leaving them alone.

"Just wait until they start having sex in the hospital. You'd think by now we'd all have learned to lock a door. I learned because of them. Twice." Meredith said with a wink as she walked away, leaving Maggie feeling stunned and blushing by the nurses station.

888*

Arizona loved being in Callie's arms when she was holding a baby. Even if it wasn't their baby. Any baby would do. But especially this baby, her goddaughter.

It was her favourite part of when Sofia was a baby. The way that Callie would look at them, and then fit herself behind Arizona, those strong arms wrapping around her, holding them close, protecting them, enveloping them in their own little world. Being in Callie's arms was always her favourite thing, but when there was a baby involved, she felt invincible. And Harriet wasn't even a baby anymore, she was almost 3, but she still snuggled into Arizona's chest and played with her hair or her necklace like all babies do, and it calmed Arizona.

When she'd explained to April and Jackson that she needed to hide from Dr. Minnick and that she couldn't go be with the peds babies because Minnick knew that was her refuge and that she still needed a baby, but since her baby was at school she needed their baby who was at daycare. She originally went for Ellis, she was on the approved adults list to check Ellis out of daycare, but Ellis wasn't interested in playing with her, which, rude by the way. So she'd paged Jackson and April to the daycare and explained that they needed to check Harriet out so she could snuggle, and then they both looked at her like she was crazy, which she might actually be a little bit, and surprisingly it was Jackson who agreed.

He came back out with Harriet and their canvas diaper bag and transferred the baby into her arms and Harriet came willingly with a laugh. It was April who had guided them to the CICU and said she'd run interference if she saw Minnick.

Before Callie had got there, she had noticed Maggie watching her, and then after Callie had wrapped her in those deliciously strong and soft arms, she knew that Maggie kept staring at them from around the corner by the nurses station. She and Callie hadn't spoken, just been with each other and Harriet while Maggie, and then Meredith, stared at them like a couple of weirdos, but she didn't even care. She was safe from Minnick, and she was safe with Callie, and Harriet was safe and asleep in her arms and everything was okay.

"Guys," Jackson began as he walked towards them, popping the bubble of bliss that Arizona was in, "Can I have my daughter back?"

Arizona wanted to say no, but she knew she couldn't do that, so she handed Harriet over without just minor fussing on her part, but she also snuggled into Jackson's shoulder and went right back to sleep.

With a sigh, her and Callie got off the gurney, and Arizona quickly took Callie's hand. "How was your meeting?" But what she really wanted to know was if Minnick asked about her, but she wasn't going to ask.

"It was good, you were right, she's really smart and she knows her stuff."

"Well I'm glad. Did you get all you needed for the Torres Method?" Arizona had heard about the Torres Method every year since Callie made attending. She'd never got to see it in action though. Just that every spring Callie was more absent before the boards, and a random resident practically lived in her office, or that one year before Callie had an office, on their couch. It was still whispered through the halls of GSM that the Torres Method was magical, it was practically legend. Callie's innate intelligence had always been something she loved about the other woman. Her work ethic was incredible, another huge turn on, but Arizona had always had a thing for smart girls.

"I think so, but it's too soon to tell. But I'm finding someone else to talk to, she was kind of… pretentious."

"God, I know right?" Arizona agreed.

"I mean, we're arrogant, don't get me wrong. But I think justifiably so, we're world renowned for what we do. I have a Catherine Fox Award for crying out loud, but it's not like I parade it about."

"Isn't sitting centre stage on your mantle Calliope?" Arizona said with a laugh. But not not maliciously, she was ridiculously proud of Callie.

"Where else am I supposed to put it Arizona!" Callie argued back with a laugh. "I can't put it in a box or hide it away somewhere! I'm a genius!"

"I want to show you something, in my office."

They took the stairs together, and quickly made their way through peds and OB to her small office tucked away in a corner. It wasn't large, by any standards, but it was big enough for a desk and a couch. She also kept a spare leg here, after Edwards had broken hers and had to go to her car to get one, she wanted something closer. It was the same make and model as her everyday one, and she made sure to have it checked monthly by her prosthetist so that it fit. The way she had squeaked with the spare was embarrassing, and she didn't want that to happen again.

"I've seen your office Arizona," Callie said as she opened the door for the brunette.

"Yeah, but we were kind of having sex and I don't think you actually saw it."

"I mean, the couch is nice." Callie said, and Arizona loved the way the other woman's cheeks flushed. "And the lock."

"Yes, and the lock. Here, come sit on my chair and look around. Tell me what you see." Arizona whispered, placing her hands on Callie's shoulders and massaging lightly. She watched as Callie's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, then open slowly as she took in the room.

"I see your degrees, and books, and some of Sofia's artwork."

"What about right in front of you?"

"It's a wood carving. Of a heart, I think? Maybe a blob. I don't know."

"Carl Shatler made that." She said with a whisper, her hands still applying pressure to Callie's shoulders.

"Carl?" Arizona loved the surprise in Callie's voice, the way that the brunette suddenly turned in the chair to face Arizona.

"Yes, that Carl." Suddenly Callie's hands were on her hips, lightly pulling Arizona forward, and she didn't hesitate when Callie's intentions were made clear by the way Callie tugged her down. She sat lightly in Callie's lap, and wrapped her arms around the Latina's neck, leaning into the kiss that Callie was offering.

Arizona felt a groan escape her as one of Callie's arms wound around her back and under her scrub top, the other wrapping around her middle.

"The door is open Calliope." She whispered into the plump red lips that were caressing hers so softly.

"Hmm," was Callie's only response as she broke this kiss, turning them in the chair so they could both look at it. Arizona's heart was racing at the feeling of Callie's warm hand on the skin of her lower back. She rested her temple against Callie's, contentment filling her heart and soul.

"You remember what I said about him, and you at the Catherine Fox Award ceremony?" She asked quietly, threading one of hands into the soft hairs at the nape of Callie's neck.

"You said I inspire you."

"And you do. When I'd be working in the office at home I'd find myself staring at it, marvelling at the way you worked so hard to save his hand. After the divorce I found myself looking for the piece Carl gave you, missing it even. You still inspired me, and I still believed in ortho, but I was missing that hand. I wanted it back, that physical piece of inspiration, that reminder how you are an artist and that you saved Carl's ability to create. Do you remember, about six months after we split up, when I asked for your tablet?"

"Yeah, it was strange."

"One of the times I dropped Sofia off at your place and she asked me to read her a story before bed and you waved me to her room, I stopped in the office and went to read his name. There was no name. Or date. Or anything that I could use to remember his name. After about a week of thinking I narrowed it down to about a two week stretch of time, I needed your tablet so I could go through your old cases and find his name."

"Why didn't you just ask? I could have told you."

"Well we weren't really talking to each other then, except about Sofia or work. Plus I didn't want to explain that at the time I missed a piece of art, then I would have had to explain that I was still in love with you, then who knows what would have happened."

Arizona felt the shudder roll through her as Callie's fingers tightened on her back at the mention of Arizona's failure to let go for a long while after they split.

Once Callie's fingers softened again, Arizona continued, "So I found his name, and then I looked for him. I found him on Instagram, well the account he uses for his artwork at least. I sent him a message there, and I asked if he could meet me, that I wanted to commission a piece from him. He was hesitant at first, but then I explained a little bit. I kept it very vague. About a week later we met for coffee, and I told him the whole story. That you were my wife and that piece of artwork hung in our house, and then we got divorced, and I told him how inspiring you were and I cried a little bit, I think I scared him, and then I asked if he could make me a copy. He said no."

"What? Why?"

"He said that he made that specially for you, that the artist that saved his hand deserved a unique piece of art, and that you deserved to have the only copy because you were the only doctor who was interested in saving his creative way of life. I begged him to reconsider, but he wouldn't. Which, in hindsight, totally fair, but still. But he went on to say that he would make me a one of a kind piece, so I could still be inspired. We talked for a little bit about what kind of doctor I was, and then he said he'd contact me when it was finished. About a week later he came to the hospital and gave this to me. I love it. I mean it has nothing to do with peds or fetal surgery, but it's abstract and you're right, it's a heart."

"What's the point of telling me this?"

"The point, my dear Calliope, is that you should put yours on the mantle by your Catherine Fox. You're not pretentious about your skills and ability as a surgeon, because you don't need to be. You're a rockstar and a genius and an orthogoddess and whatever else you call yourself, but you don't sing your own praises because your work speaks for itself, and I'm not the only person who recognizes your skill."

"Arizona," it was said on a breathless whisper, full of emotion and devotion. Arizona turned her head and kissed the plump waiting lips, trying to chastely express how much Callie inspired her, how inspiring she was.

"I'm glad you told me. Then and now."

 _AN2: So a guest has been leaving reviews talking about how I'm writing another story about how Callie was the bad guy in all of this, and not really explaining what they mean. They both did crap wrong, and I've been trying to convey that. Have I been failing? I don't think I have, but someone does. Can you please explain what you mean, instead of you know, calling me racist and bigoted towards bi people?_


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: The first song Callie sings is** " _ **Can't Help Falling in Love"**_ **by Elvis, but specifically the cover by Twenty One Pilots. Also this one is M, if you're not into that kind of thing.**

Callie was exhausted. Getting changed in the attending's lounge after an emergency seven hour surgery that she had gotten pulled into, and she was so tired that she was contemplating sleeping on the couch in the attending's lounge, or finding an on call room, or going to Arizona's office. She had to be back at the hospital for rounds in four hours, and the thought of having to drive home and then back to the hospital was almost unconscionable.

Though it was technically her night with Sofia, when both she and Arizona had been called in to surgery just before they were going to leave due to the massive amounts of accidents from the storm, Andrew had volunteered to take her home. Really, what she wanted was to go be with Sofia at Arizona's house, with Arizona there too, but she trusted Andrew. Well, she trusted Arizona's judgement of him, and was working towards trusting him herself. Sofia loved him, and that was also almost good enough.

In her pocket, while she stood staring at the couch, her phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.

 _Hey, is this Dr. Torres? Callie Torres? Sofia's mom Torres?_

 _This is Andrew. Uh, DeLuca._

 _If this is Dr. Torres please call me right away._

Callie quickly pressed the buttons that would call the unknown number, and was thankful when it was answered quickly.

"DeLuca," in the background she heard Sofia whimper Mommy, and her heart broke a little at the tears she could hear in her daughter's voice.

"Hey, it's Callie. What's wrong with Sofia."

"Dr. Torres, are you still in surgery? Sofia is scared from the storm and she wanted her mommy, was asking for you. I tried to explain about surgery, but she didn't care."

"No, I'm done, where are you guys?" She ripped the scrub top off and quickly pulled on her t-shirt and grabbed her bag and jacket.

"We're at home, can you come?"

"Of course, can you put Sofia on?"

"Here _principessa, e tua madre_ ," Callie listened as the phone was fumbled and Sofia's voice, strained with tears and the fear of storms overwhelming.

"Mommy?"

"Hey, little bug, what's wrong?" Now that she had a destination, she was in her car, thankful that the bluetooth picked up and she could focus on driving the fifteen minutes to Arizona's house.

"I'm scared Mommy, can you come home?"

"I'm on my way," Sofia had been petrified of storms for as long as she could remember. When they would have big Seattle thunderstorms, it was guaranteed that she would crawl into bed with them, or with Callie after the divorce.

"How long?"

"About ten minutes, sweet girl. Can you be brave for ten minutes?" Just then a loud crack of thunder boomed, and it set Sofia on another burst of tears. She could hear Andrew in the background murmuring to Sofia and she wanted to drive faster, to get to her frightened baby faster, but she also knew that getting into an accident herself wouldn't help anyone so she pushed the panic down.

"Can you sing mommy? Please."

"Yeah, baby." Callie sang a cover of an old Elvis song for Sofia. Unlike Arizona, whose repertoire only contained one song, Callie went through a rotation of songs for Sofia. She loved singing to her daughter, loved the way that Sofia looked at her when she sang, loved the way that Sofia would grab her hand and hold tight when she was singing. When she finished the song, she could hear that Sofia was still crying, though not as loudly as she had been when she first took the phone from Andrew.

"Sof? Little bug, you still there being brave?"

"Yes Mommy, are you here?"

"Almost, can you give the phone back to Uncle Andrew?"

"I'm almost there-" She said.

"I'll go unlock the door."

She hung up the phone without even a goodbye, and pulled up along the corner of the house a minute later, rushing through the rain towards Arizona's house. Halfway up the walk, the door was flung open and she could see tear stained Sofia, gripping Andrew's hand, being held back by a hand on her shoulder. When she got into the doorway Sofia launched herself at Callie, who knelt quickly to take Sofia into her arms, a fresh wave of tears and crying.

After a minute of just holding the scared child, Callie stood, taking Sofia with her. It had been a long while since she had carried Sofia for a long amount of time. There were always the flying hugs, and lifting her to reach things, but she hadn't wanted to be held like this for a long time. Having her cling to her like this, getting to hold her like she wasn't the brave and strong and smart child was growing into, but still like her tiny baby.

"I'll lock up," Andrew whispered, and she had honestly forgotten that he was even there.

She nodded her thanks, and moved to the stairs, to take Sofia back to her bed. It was late, technically very early morning, and she knew that Sofia had school in the morning. Her poor baby would be so tired, but if she could get the girl to go to sleep now, she'd still get several hours more sleep.

"Can we sleep in momma's bed please?" Sofia asked into her neck, her little arms wrapped tightly around Callie. And while they had been together for six months now, they hadn't yet told Sofia and were still technically sleeping at different houses, she would love nothing more than to go to Arizona's bed with her daughter, to be surrounded by the blonde's smell, to hold on to the idea of them as a family again. Not that they weren't a family now, they were, but to be together as a family under one roof, with a bed that wasn't momma's or mommy's, but was theirs. But she didn't know how to start that process of asking, no one made a book called "How to Get Back Together With Your Ex-Wife and Make it a Seamless Process That Won't Irrevocably Damage Your Child." _For Dummies._

But she also couldn't deny her daughter, so she went to Arizona's bedroom. Like every time she had been in here since coming back to Seattle, she was overwhelmed by how absolutely _Arizona_ it was. The easter basket colours, all pastels and bright, modern but distinctly not edgy furnishings. Everything in this room screamed Arizona Robbins, and while it wasn't how Callie would have designed things, she loved the room. She loved being here in a space that was distinctly Arizona.

Once they settled on the bed, Callie snuggled into Arizona's pillow and covered with the scent of Arizona invading all of her senses, Sofia pressing herself tightly against Callie's chest, she began to comb through Sofia's dark tresses.

"I love you, Mommy." Sofia whispered. Thankfully her tears had subsided even though the storm still raged outside, the sporadic peels of thunder slowly becoming quieter and less frequent.

"I love you too, _mija."_ She said, kissing Sofia's head lightly.

"You are the best hugger Mommy."

Callie's heart soared at the words, hugging Sofia a little tighter to her chest.

"Thanks little bug, you're a pretty good hugger too. But you should go to sleep now. We're safe in momma's bed."

"Sing again please."

One of Callie's favourite songs was "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," by Death Cab For Cutie. She had sang it often when Sofia was a baby, when she couldn't understand the lyrics, and was hesitant to sing it now. But she could feel Sofia slipping into sleep now, the way her grip on her shirt was loosening, her body becoming heavier and her breath evening out. So she sang this song.

It used to, and still does, remind her of Arizona. And of Winnie-the-Pooh " _if you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you,"_ which was morbid to think of, but as doctors and the things they had been through, the looming finality of death was always present. Not consciously in her mind, she didn't dwell on it, cause that would be insane, but she knew that someday they were going to die. Quite selfishly, she knew, she wanted to go before Arizona. Wanted to never live a day without the woman she was in love with. But she would be happy with 50 more years. They were both still relatively young, early 40's, and were both in fantastic shape and healthy and all of that, so hoping for 50 more years with Arizona and Sofia was doable.

When she finished the song and Sofia was fully asleep, she looked up and noticed that Andrew was lurking in the open doorway.

"Hey," he whispered, "Didn't know you were a Broadway singer in your spare time."

She felt her cheeks flush at his praise, she had never been comfortable with her voice, and the obvious stage fright issues would prevent any sort of viable career path. Plus she loved being a doctor, she only needed an audience of one, Sofia. Or Arizona, if she was singing in the shower.

"Dr. Robbins texted me, she said you weren't answering your phone."

"It's probably in my bag in the hall, can you grab it for me." She watched as the tall man nodded, and waited for him to return, still softly stroking Sofia's hair.

When he returned, she took the phone from him and smiled, "Thank you Andrew. For being here, for taking care of her." She whispered.

" _Lei e la mia piccola principessa,_ " he whispered in Italian, looking down at her fondly.

"Your little princess?" She asked, thankful that the romance languages were so close. Plus it wasn't like "princess" was indecipherable in any of them.

" _Si,_ " he whispered again, moving back to the door. "When she first came for a visit she heard me speaking Italian, and asked to learn. So I've been teaching her a little. Dr. Robbins still teaches her Spanish, and she's in Spanish immersion at school, but kids are so good at picking up languages, a third wouldn't hurt."

Callie just nodded, and whispered goodnight and watched as he walked away, the lights in the hall flickering out as he walked away.

Checking her phone she noticed that she had three missed phone calls and half a dozen texts from the blonde.

 _Did you make it home? -A_

 _How's Sofia? Thunderstorms are scary. She always wants you. -A_

 _Callie. I'm just gonna call you. -A_

 _You didn't answer, but Andrew said you made it home. -A_

 _Should I come home? -A_

 _I'm coming. -A_

Callie laughed at the escalation of the texts, but felt warmth fill her entire being at the way that Arizona had said "home" three times. Had called this their home, even though it was technically only Arizona's and Sofia's. Well also Andrew's. Just as she was about to text back, she heard the entryway open, and heard the shuffling of footsteps coming towards her.

Arizona stopped in the doorway, bathed by the soft glow of the night light in the hall and the lamp on the bedside table that she had lit for Sofia. With only a second's hesitation, Callie watched as the blonde slipped quietly into the room, felt the dip of the bed behind her as Arizona sat, listened as she removed the prosthetic, and swallowed thickly as the other woman came towards them on the bed, pressing herself tightly to Callie's back, her small arm sliding across her waist and slipping around their daughter.

Callie could only bask at the feeling of having the two people she loved most in the world in bed with her. Warm lips pressed a kiss to her shoulder as Arizona came to rest on the pillow she was using.

"Hi," Callie breathed.

"Hi," Arizona whispered back.

They lay in silence for a few more minutes, Arizona's soft breaths fanning across her exposed shoulder, Sofia slumbering on, soft snores escaping every so often.

"I think we should move in together." It was only with a tremendous effort that Callie was able to remain still at Arizona's surprising utterance, but her heart rocketed into her throat.

"I love you Calliope, I love you and I want to be able to come home to you."

"What about Sofia?" Because god she wanted that as well.

"She can come too." Arizona whispered, placing another kiss on Callie's shoulder.

"No, I mean we haven't told her."

"We will, we'll do it together, and then we can move in, and on days like today I can come home to my girls, and find you guys in our bed and climb in with you. Because today was a hard day, and coming home to find you in my bed with our daughter it made, because god, Calliope it made everything better. You make everything better. Even seeing your name on the OR board makes me smile. Seeing you walk down the halls of the hospital, watching you have lunch with Meredith, listening to you read Sofia stories, seeing your dirty socks on the floor, I just want to have it all."

Callie felt the tears gathering in her eyes.

"Andrew?" She asked, because she was honestly concerned about the man now.

"He's not coming." Arizona and Callie both laughed. "We'll figure it out. You and me and Sofia could go somewhere new, and he can stay here and turn it into a residents frat house. We can make him go to Meredith's, but Maggie, I'm sure they'll be fine. The contract on your apartment still has six months, we can send him there. We'll take care of him too."

"But I want you and Sofia all to myself, Calliope. A family under one roof."

"I want that too, Arizona. God I want that so badly."

The kiss that Arizona pressed to her shoulder then lingered, and was so full of promise and hope and love. "That's the first time you've said you loved me since we got back together." She whispered.

"I know," Arizona whispered back. "When I got to the door, it was the only thing that was in my head. I was looking at you holding our baby, and I just thought, 'she's perfect' and I know that with you I'm where I belong. And I do love you Calliope, I love you so much. I love you more now than I ever did before. Is that crazy? It sounds crazy. Both times I fell in love with you it happened so fast and hard and all the good things it should be. And I love you, I'm in love with you, and I want to, god I just want you."

Callie had a problem with being the first to say "I love you," to people. She was always a person who fell hard and fast. Even with Arizona, she'd felt it quickly the first time around. And then this second time, she started falling for the blonde even during that speech Arizona had given about her at the Catherine Fox Awards. It wasn't that she was waiting for Arizona to say it, she wasn't unsure of the way that Arizona felt about her, she had just never found the right moment.

"I love you too Arizona." She whispered back, feeling the way the blonde smiled against her shoulder and snuggled in closer to her back.

888*

Her mommies were being weird. Really weird. Sofia Robbin Sloan-Torres was used to them being weird apart, what with all the ice cream and underwear dance parties, but seeing them together being weird, was weird. Since her and her mommy had moved back to Seattle, they had been spending a lot of time together with her momma, and while that was weird, it was a good weird. Living in New York had been fun, but she had missed her momma and when she was in Seattle with her momma, it was her mommy that she missed. She like being in one place with both of them. She really liked it.

Except when they were being weird.

Her mommy had her funny smile on, the one where Sofia could tell she was trying to pretend to be smiling but wasn't really succeeding. Momma had called it her fake smile, and while she didn't know what that meant, she did know that it was different from her real smile. The one she had when they were playing or watching movies.

Her momma, wasn't really even smiling. She loved her momma's blue eyes, but they looked like she was mad at something, like that time she had accidentally spilled juice on her robot leg and it had started smoking.

The last time they had looked like this was when they told her that she would be moving to New York with mommy and Penny. They were even sitting on the same couch in Momma's house, looking at her like they were both fake smiling and trying to say something.

"I don't want to move to New York again." She said. Even though she missed her friends there, and the zoo, and all the museums, she didn't want to be apart from either of her mommies again. Because she noticed that they had more real smiles when they were together, and she liked the real smiles better than the fake ones.

"What?" Both of her mommies asked at the same time, and she just looked between them.

"Sof, baby, what do you mean?" Her mommy asked.

"I heard momma tell Uncle Andrew that we were moving out." And she had, Uncle Andrew had sworn in Italian, but she wasn't supposed to know those words, and she really wasn't supposed to repeat them, but then her momma had said that he could stay in the house and choose his own roommates, she didn't know what roommates were, but they had moved away from her so she didn't get to find out.

"Oh, little bug, I'm sorry." Momma said, reaching for her hand. "But why do you think that means you're going to have to move to New York?"

 _Duh,_ is what she wanted to say, but both of her mommies said that you shouldn't say duh. So instead she said, "The last time we had a talk like this me and mommy moved to New York."

And then she watched her mommies look at each other, and neither of them were smiling now. They did this too sometimes, where they'd stare at each other for long times. She'd caught them doing it a few weeks ago when they were supposed to be watching _Up_ with her, but instead they were just staring at each other instead of the TV. Her momma's smile made it all the way to her eyes, and she had looked really really pretty. Her mommy's smile was the real one, and she had played with the heart necklace that she'd gotten when they came back to Seattle. But then she realized she was missing the movie and didn't notice if they stopped staring at each other.

This was different though. "So we're not going to New York?" She asked, because she was honestly really confused.

"No, _mija_ , you and momma are going to come live with me, at a new house." She looked at her mommy, and waited for a second. She could stare too, you know. "Here. In Seattle. A new house in Seattle."

Thank goodness for that, because she and Zola had plans this summer. They were going to find bugs and use Aunty Meredith's bug book to figure out what they were. Their science teacher had said that grade 3 was an important year for science fair, and that they should start thinking about what they wanted to do in the fall. Her mommies, and all her aunts and uncles, said that it was important to plan ahead.

Though she didn't really know what any of that meant either, but she saw the way that her mommies made plans for surgeries and other stuff, and Aunty Meredith had said the same thing to Zola, so they decided to listen. Even though they'd much rather play with Bailey and Ellis.

"Like roommates? Like Momma and Andrew?" She didn't know why her mommy was laughing? What were roommates? She would have to remember to ask google later.

"No, little bug. Callie, how do we, how do-" Her momma began, but her mommy interrupted, which they had said was rude.

"Do you know what being married means? Like in your movies?"

Finally, something was making sense. "Yeah, like loving someone. Are you guys getting married?"

Her momma turned so red, and her mommy coughed and now they weren't even looking at each other. Grown ups were weird.

"No, no. Uhh… no." Her momma, who was usually so good at talking, was not doing so well. "Dating! Do you know what dating means?"

Well the last time she asked this question, they had said it was like practice being married, so apparently she did not know what that means.

" _Mija,_ I love your momma. Do you remember the thunderstorm last week, and how you asked if could sleep in momma's bed?"

She nodded, that was really scary. Uncle Andrew was good at playing and making spaghetti, but he was not very good at hugging. She liked when he hugged her, but she liked her mommy's hugs so much better. Even momma wasn't good at hugging during thunderstorms. Her arms were shaky and she hugged too tight, mommy was the best at hugging. All of her hugs were the best hugs ever.

"When we move in together, your momma and I won't have separate beds anymore. We'll share the same bed." They were back to staring at each other.

Momma and Andrew were roommates and they had separate beds. Aunty Maggie and Aunty Meredith were roommates and they had separate beds.

"Like me and Zola when we have sleepovers?"

"No." Her mommies spoke together.

"Like how Grandpa and Grandma, share the same bed." Her mommy said. "And Abuela and Abuelo."

But Grandpa Colonel and Grandma were married, and Sofia was confused again. Because Abuela and Abuelo were also married.

"All this means, little bug, is that you and me and mommy are going to live together in the same house, still here in Seattle. You'll get a new room and we can paint it together, and choose decorations and it will be fun. Do you understand?"

No, no she did not understand. She didn't understand anything. She was excited about getting a new room though, maybe they would let her choose green again. Green was her favourite colour. So, even though lying is bad and you're not supposed to lie, she nodded her head. And that seemed to do the trick, because her mommies smiled real actual smiles at her, and then at each other.

"Can I go play now?" Because she was going to look up 'roommates' and 'dating' and 'married' on her iPad to see if she could figure out what was happening.

"Yes, baby, go play." Her mommy said, pulling her in for a hug. Which she returned, because her mommy really was the best hugger. She gave her momma a hug too, this was one of her good hugs, so she kissed her momma on the cheek too.

Just as she was leaving the room, she heard her momma say "That went okay, right? Did that go okay?" And Sofia just shook her head and left quicker.

888*

The mantle over the fireplace was Arizona's favourite part of the new house she had bought with Callie. There was a floor to ceiling wandering path of dark grey stone, haphazardly stacked and arranged to look like some sort of flowing river. The fireplace itself was propane powered, filled with black glass rather than fake logs, and was all matte black and titanium accents. The mantle though, the mantle was gorgeous. Seriously, it was the most amazingly beautiful fireplace she had ever seen. It stretched beyond the borders of the river of rocks, and was a thick and sturdy piece of mahogany, varnished and shined to perfection so it reflected the flickering flames and the twinkling lights that lit the living room.

This was the first house they had looked at after that disastrous conversation with Sofia, but not the last. Both of them, her and Callie, had kept coming back to this house. Callie was interested in the large kitchen and the four bedrooms and three and a half baths, but it was this fireplace that Arizona knew she needed. It reminded her of Callie, if she were honest. All artistic and dark and beautiful and graceful.

So they had bought it, and then moved in with the help of all of their friends, and now tonight were throwing them a thank you slash house warming party. Owen and Amelia were the only ones not in attendance, though they were watching all of the children at Owen's house. Callie though, who had cooked all of the food for this meal with April's help, had brought them enough to feed themselves and six children.

But now it was late and the party was winding down, and though she and April were sitting on the floor in front of the couch staring at the mantle, her favourite mantle in the whole wide world, and she was not quite drunk, but definitely tipsy, it wasn't the mantle she was staring at. It was her Calliope. Who had listened and put her Catherine Fox centre stage, then they had flanked it with both of their pieces of Carl Shatler art, she'd have to commission another piece for her office, and on either side of those the rest of the mantle was filled with pictures of them and their families. Bot their work family and their family families.

But it was still Calliope that she was staring at. She couldn't help herself, didn't want to help herself. Callie was wearing a knee length deep purple dress and her hair was flowing in rolling waves over one shoulder as she talked and laughed with Meredith and Maggie in the kitchen.

"I still find her miraculous," she whispered, more to herself than to her drinking companion.

But it seemed that April still heard her, because her friend turned and looked at her, "Mmm?"

"Calliope." It was all she needed to say.

"Still?"

"I told Lexie Grey, god I miss Lexie, that I found Calliope miraculous. Breathtakingly stunning. That was, god, that was almost ten years ago, and I still do. Sometimes I look at her, sometimes I look at her and it takes my breath away."

"I was mean to her a couple months ago." April admitted into her glass of scotch.

"I know, she told me."

"You know, you're both really bad at keeping secrets."

Arizona took another swallow of her wine, reaching out with her left hand and stroking the back of April's head. "I'm sorry April."

April turned to her again, "I know Arizona." April reached over and patted her leg, except she hit the cup of her prosthetic and they both fell into giggles.

When they had recovered, they both took another drink, April staring into the fire and Arizona still staring at Callie.

"It was wrong of you to speak to her that way, April." Arizona whispered, finally turning to look at her friend. She was so lucky to have April Kepner as a friend.

"I was just trying to protect you, I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I know, and I'm thankful that you want to protect me, but you don't need to. Not from Calliope."

"But she hurt you Arizona."

"And, as you once told me, I hurt her. I'm not blameless in this. I was horrible to Callie. Even if I hadn't cheated on her, I was bad for her. I had a lot of problems and I blamed her for them, so I took out all of my anger and rage and just was super negative to her for a lot things that weren't her fault."

And she was afraid of doing it again. Not intentionally, of course, they were so much better at communicating with each other and sharing the things that made them frustrated or angry, especially when it came to each other, but Arizona hadn't meant to do it then. It took a lot of therapy for her to realize her role in the destruction of their marriage, and to realize that what Callie had done, was really for the best. She had been angry at Callie for a long time, before and after the divorce, but slowly she had learned her role in it all. She had had to learn to forgive not just Callie, but herself. It had taken almost the entirety of the four years they were apart to do so.

But being with Callie now, none of the bad things of their past felt like issues anymore. The good things still mattered. Like the way that Callie smiled at her, or the way that she would wrap her arms around her when they were in the kitchen, or the way that she would smile at her from the gallery or across the OR table.

Arizona looked back at Callie just in time to see her laugh at something Maggie said, she loved the way that Callie's hand reached out to pat Maggie's shoulder, the way that those brown eyes found hers across the room.

"I'm going to marry her someday, April, and you need to apologize to her because you're going to be my maid of honor and I want my wife to like my best friend."

"Who's your best friend?" Alex asked, coming over to sit on her right side. She smiled at him, sitting her wine glass down so she could wrap her right arm around him and pull him in for a hug. She kissed his cheek, and loved the way he blushed.

She disentangled her arm from around him and picked up her glass again, sipping the wine and loving her life.

"April is."

"Kepner?" He asked with a laugh, leaning forward to look at her across Arizona.

"Yes Alex, and you need to like her too, because when I marry Calliope you're going to be my best man and she's going to be my maid of honor and you guys will have to dance together."

They both laughed, and Alex replied quietly, "I'll dance with Kepner at your wedding Robbins, but she's giving the speech or toast or whatever."

The three of them lapsed into silence again, and she set her wine glass down to twine her arms through Alex and April's, holding her two closest friends tightly.

"I didn't know you guys were getting married again. When did that happen?" He asked, taking a sip of his beer.

"It hasn't yet, but it will. One day, it will. One day, I'm gonna ask her to marry me, or she's gonna ask me to marry her, and whoever is asked is going to say yes, then April is going to wear a pretty dress and you're going to wear a new suit with a tie that matches the colour of April's dress. And then you're going to dance with each other, and April will dance with Matthew and you'll dance with Jo while I dance with Calliope. One day."

"Okay," they both said.

888*

After all of their guests went home, Callie joined Arizona on the floor in front of the fireplace, refilling both of their wine glasses, enjoying the quiet of the house with her girlfriend. She took Arizona's hand and twined their fingers, loving the way that the blonde's hand fit in her own.

"Callie, I need your help." Arizona whispered, a giggle escaping, the sound provoking a laugh of her own.

"With what, my darling?"

"Can you take my leg off?" Callie loved the way that Arizona said it like it was the most scandalous thing that she had ever uttered.

She smiled as she moved to take the leg off. Even though Arizona was wearing a dress, she wasn't wearing her heeled leg, it was one of the carbon fibre ones that looked like a prosthetic leg. She loved this look on Arizona, loved the way that she wore flats and was comfortable and no longer hiding the less fancy leg under pants, even though they had only been surrounded by their friends, seeing Arizona walk around without shame or care about it filled Callie's heart with joy.

Removing the leg, as well as the shoe from the blonde's right foot, she moved to sit back on the blonde's left side, her hand moving to the stump and massaging the tense muscles she found there. She'd learned, over the last six months, that excessive alcohol expounded the tenseness of residual limb, and learned that when it happened like this, Arizona preferred a light touch to soothe the aches that were there.

"Mmm, god your hands are magical. I love your hands. They're so talented. In the OR. In the bedroom. You're like a sex wizard Calliope."

Callie couldn't help but laugh. Alcohol also made Arizona lose her filter.

"Thank you Arizona." She said, leaning over to pull the blonde in for a kiss. A kiss she had meant to be chaste and filled with love, but Arizona had other plans.

Callie felt the groan rise through her chest as Arizona bit her lower lip softly, and outright moaned when the skillful tongue of her girlfriend forced its way into her mouth. God she loved this woman, no single sexual partner she'd had could elicit the strength and depth of desire and arousal in her as Arizona could. It's not that those experiences hadn't been good, because they had been, it's just something about the way that Arizona used her entire and body and focus to bring Callie to completion, it often felt like Arizona was more concerned with ensuring Callie's release than chasing her own.

And good god, could she do it well.

The torturously slow way Arizona's hands made their way up her body, and under her dress, just close enough to her centre but far enough away that if Callie moved her hips in just the right way she'd have them exactly where she wanted them, but somehow they were laying on the floor and while Arizona's hands were dragging the fabric of her dress up and over her hips and then her waist, and then her chest, and finally over her shoulders and arms, those small hips of Arizona's which contained strength beyond what you'd think they would just by looking at her, were against her holding her in place. And still nothing where Callie knew that if Arizona didn't touch her soon, she would probably die.

"Arizona, god, please." She was not against begging, never against begging. Especially when it came to Arizona Robbins.

Callie watched as Arizona got to her knee and removed her own dress after she whispered, "Take your bra off." Callie wasted no time in doing so, flinging the article over the couch in the same direction that Arizona had flung both of their dresses. As she reached for her panties, Arizona's hands reached hers and stopped the motion, Callie could have came just from feeling a mostly naked Arizona practically poor herself on top of her body.

"I want to do that Calliope," was husked into her ear, that warm tongue and teeth coming out to drag up her entire ear, and the need for this woman, for release cause by this woman skyrocketed, the hot arousal gathering in ruined panties and dripping down her inner thighs.

Arizona kissed down along her jaw, and Callie couldn't help but buck her hips into Arizona as the woman on top had moaned into the kiss, one talented, even if small and girly hand, sliding across her chest and down, stopping to roughly pinch and twist a nipple.

She'd had to break away to moan out loud, and was disappointed when Arizona took her leave from kissing her. Kissing and licking a wet trail down and across her throat. Callie moved her hands to the smooth mounds of the blonde's ass, but could only grip tighter when she refused to move to a position that would allow Callie some relief of not being touched.

"God, just fuck me, please."

Suddenly she was cold as the hot body left hers, and those lips, and those teeth were against her ear again, all husky and breathless whisper into her ear, "Good things come to those who wait." Arizona's sex voice was a siren call, and Callie knew that it was the most glorious sound she had ever heard.

"I don't want to wait. Please, Arizona. God please."

All she got in response was for Arizona to slowly restart her trail of lips and tongue and fire down her body. Callie could feel her hips squirm against the pressure that was not there, was desperately seeking some sort of relief. She moaned again when that mouth, that wet and hot and delicious mouth found her breasts, lavishing attention to both painfully hard nipples. Felt the way that her lips followed the path blazed by her hand as the lithe body dripped down her own.

"Please," she begged again when light fingertips played at the hem of her panties, joined quickly by lips who placed a hard kiss to her centre over the lacy material, but were swiftly gone when she couldn't control herself and bucked into the mouth, crying out when it was gone.

She threaded her fingers through blonde hair roughly, trying to convey her need with action, with physical direction, but as much and as hard as she tried, Arizona was forging her path. She felt the way that lips and teeth nipped at the skin of her lips and couldn't help but let her knees fall open wider, offering herself to Arizona.

But she was ignored as fingers dragged her panties down her legs, and Arizona continued to make her way down legs. "I love your legs Calliope." All Callie could do was moan in response as Arizona switched from her left to her right leg, panties discarded behind the couch with the rest of their clothes, and anticipation was killing her slowly. "I love how strong they are. How long they are. I love the way they wrap around me when I fuck you. I love the way they tremble when you come when I'm inside you. I love the way these thighs grip my head so tightly when I make love to you with my mouth."

As Arizona continued kissing her skin, all Callie could do was moan, she groaned and begged again when Arizona bypassed her centre with her mouth and her fingers, still blazing a path of fire across her skin and through her entire being.

Suddenly Arizona was back at her neck, softly sucking at the skin just behind her ear, that tongue soothing the spot, fingers with a gentle touch still peppering her nipples and driving Callie higher and higher.

"You asked me to fuck you Calliope, and I will, but how. Tell me how you want me to fuck you, how you want me to make you come." A bite to her earlobe drew a gasp from Callie's lips, "tell me Calliope."

Arizona didn't swear, had gotten used to words appropriate for kids, but she turned absolutely dirty in the bedroom and it was one of the greatest gifts Callie had ever received. How vocal the blonde was, how shockingly dirty. How every single utterance of the word fuck could shot bolts of electricity through her and make her knees weak.

But she couldn't find any words beyond "Arizona" and "god" and "please" so she reached up and grabbed the hand that was on her breasts and moved it to her centre, which was obviously a good enough answer for Callie because no time was wasted as two fingers were thrust into her quickly. "Is this what you want Calliope? Is this how you want to come."

"God, Arizo- god, yes." She husked. As Arizona's hand continued to work itself into and out of her centre, Callie maintained her grip on a delicate wrist. Arizona's other arm wrapped around her head, and Callie turned to rest her forehead against Arizona's, hot breath mingling. Callie brought her other around to wrap around the blonde's waist, to hold her close.

She could feel her orgasam building quickly and hotly and firey in her abdomen and her thighs, and she begged again, "Please, oh god Arizona, my love, please."

In no time at all, Arizona's thumb was pressed tightly against her clit, rubbing hot and wet circles around it, and Callie was quickly losing control and coming undone in the arms of the woman she loved. "I'm gonna, oh god, Arizona."

"I've got you Calliope, I've got you." Arizona whispered, and Callie let go with a scream, the blonde's name ripping from her throat and lips as she felt herself convulse rapidly against the fingers that were still working in her.

Arizona worked her through the come down, Callie releasing the grip on the other woman's wrist, when it was too much. Arizona's hand came to rest on her stomach, and her lips found Callie's, softly bringing her back to earth.

"I love you Calliope."

 _AN: I want to thank everyone for answering my question about the whole Team Arizona/Team Callie thing. I honestly didn't know that was a thing, but I can see now that you may be right. Thinking about my own bias, you may also be right about me._


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: I hope that this isn't too dramatic.**

Callie woke to the feel of cool sheets beside. It was an alarming feeling, after having woken up to the blonde for the last several weeks. In her newly awakened state she was confused and called out, her voice croaking from sleep "Arizona?" But there was no answer. Glancing around the room she noticed that Arizona's leg was gone, and oddly the drawers in the dresser where she kept her clothes and the closet doors were left open when usually Arizona was the neater of the two of them.

The light to their on suite was off, and she couldn't hear sounds of Arizona in the kitchen. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was just after five in the morning, and the cold sheets meant that Arizona had been gone for a while. Rousing herself, Callie began the search for a note or something. There were no texts from the blonde, her usual way of letting Callie know if she'd had to go in, but as she wasn't woken by a page or Arizona herself, Callie began to get worried. Arizona always let her know if she wasn't going to be there in the morning.

Getting out of bed, she made her way to Sofia's room and was relieved to find her sleep asleep. Going back to her room she texted Arizona and began to get ready for the day since she was up anyway. When she was finished twenty minutes later Arizona still hadn't responded and Callie's anxiety increased a bit. Heading to the kitchen she noticed the remnants of Arizona having made herself coffee, once again leaving a mess in the kitchen which was unusual. Even the half drunk cup of coffee on the counter was cold. She had to tamp down the urge to call the hospital to see if Arizona had come in, so instead she sent another text to her girlfriend, but she was starting to get the feeling that it would be in vain.

Behind her, she heard the soft padding of Sofia coming into the kitchen, "Where's momma?"

"She had to go in to the hospital," Callie opted for the lie, not knowing if it was a lie or not. But she didn't want to worry their daughter, and thankfully Sofia accepted her words and moved to sit at the breakfast bar. "What do you want for breakfast, _mija?_ "

The rest of the morning passed both incredibly quickly and heart wrenchingly slowly. Arizona still hadn't answered any of her texts, and Callie was getting even more worried, not knowing what was happening. She was able to get Sofia off to school, and drove faster to the hospital than she should have. There was a bit of relief to see Arizona's car in it's usual space.

Getting changed into scrubs quickly, she rushed to the NICU hoping to find Arizona in their usual refuge. She wasn't there, but Karev was so she rushed in to see him.

"Have you seen Arizona?" She asked, forgoing any greeting.

She watched as his usually gruff face hardened for a moment, then softened for a second, and finally morphed back into a frown. The speed with which he was able to mask his emotions shocked her. He'd always been a hard man, rough around the edges, and the weight on his shoulders was heavy, but now it seemed as if the world was on him.

"Alex, please." She begged, and his face softened again.

"Talk to Mer." He said, putting his stethoscope in, effectively ending their conversation.

Pulling out her phone as she left the NICU, she caught sight of Arizona looking at her, all wide eyed and staring. She was about to call out, but the other woman turned quickly and was gone without a word or a smile, a flash of blonde hair and a swish of her lab coat. _What the hell was going on?_

Meredith texted back quickly, that she was in the pit, so Callie took off at a run as if she'd been paged 911, hoping that Meredith could explain what was happening to Arizona.

"Dr. Grey?" she said impatiently to one of the nurses who just pointed to Trauma 1. Callie rushed in to find Meredith pacing, a concerned look on her face.

"What's wrong with Arizona?" She asked, once again skipping a greeting, her need for answers more important than any form of politeness.

"It's a dark day." Meredith said it like Callie should know what that meant.

"What?"

"It's a dark day."

"You can't say that like I know what it means! I woke up and she was gone and then she left messes and didn't answer my texts and then just practically ran away from." Now she was getting angry along with getting increasingly worried. The fact that Meredith and Alex both seemed to know what was going on was worrying. "Meredith, please."

"She hasn't told you?"

"She hasn't spoken to me at all today!"

"No, like in general. About the dark days?" So apparently this was a thing.

"No." She shook her head sadly. Now she was no longer just worried about Arizona, she was worried about them.

"Okay. Okay okay okay." Meredith began, and suddenly Callie was worried about Meredith too. "I'm going to tell you something that you probably don't want to hear and that I don't want to tell you, but I'm telling you because you're my friend. And I love you. And I love Arizona. And I'm someone who wants this second chance with Arizona to succeed. So I need you to listen to me."

Callie just nodded, surprised at the way Meredith was looking at her, at the words she said.

"Me and Arizona, we have dark days. Days when we can't do anything but put one foot in front of the other. Days when it takes every shred of energy we have, when we have to argue with every cell in our bodies to just put one foot in front of the other, argue with our lungs to keep breathing, force our hearts to keep beating. Days when staying alive is the only thing we can do. We still come to work, we still do surgery, we still do the things we have to do to make it tomorrow, but part of us is focused on breathing and beating and keeping one foot in front of the other."

Understanding washed over Callie, this is what the therapist had warned them about. Warned her about. She felt foolish for worrying about them, but was now suddenly exponentially more concerned for Arizona. But the therapist had said that she was supposed to listen when Arizona had her PTSD moments, so she would listen to Meredith. They shared an experience that Callie couldn't begin to understand. She'd heard Arizona's story, had understood the words and the meaning, but couldn't fathom what it was actually like.

"I didn't lose a lot, in the plane crash I mean. It was traumatic of course, but I had Derek and Cristina, the three of us bore it together. We had Arizona and Mark too, we had each other. But I came out relatively okay. I know what dying is like, and while we were all close to dying, I was the only one who knew what was happening. Being that close to death, it changes you. Changes you."

"Those dark days... we're right back in death's grasp and we have to fight to stay alive. And there's no warning signs. There's nothing about the day before, the hour before, the minutes and seconds before, that lets us know that death has come knocking again." Callie gulped at those words, impassioned but said so flatly that it made her wonder if this was more for Meredith than it was for Callie. "I know what Arizona was like to you after the crash, and while she hasn't explicitly told me that was what was happening to her, I know Callie. I know."

"That's what's happening today. We've all had to learn how to handle them. With me, the answer's tequila, you grab my arm and you take me to Joe's and you get me tequila. I'm not going to talk to you, I'm not going to do anything but stare at the wall, and you get Maggie or Alex or Arizona or Amelia to be with my kids, and you keep getting me tequila. With Arizona, she needs space. She thinks that if anyone gets close to her, death will ask for them next. She said she would seriously think about it if death asked. She knows it won't fix it, but the offer would be tempting. So you give her space. You leave a coffee for her by the OB nurses station, or a donut. Or both. If she hasn't emerged by lunch time, you leave that at the nurses station, same with dinner. They know what to watch out for, the peds nurses too. If she makes it to bed and it's still a dark day, you leave the lights on. All of them. She'll want to turn them off, but turn them back on. It helps us with the nightmares."

"How do you know all of this?" Callie asked on a whisper. She wanted to reach out, to comfort Meredith somehow, because she loved her too. Wanted to protect her too.

"Because I spent four days with her in the woods. And like I said, I have them too. Death knocks for me too Callie." Meredith wasn't a hugger, so she offered the other woman her hand, not knowing if it would be taken.

"Where do I put the coffee and donut?" Sighing softly, Meredith gave her fingers a brief squeeze, accepting what comfort she wanted from Callie.

"I guarantee you that you will know."

And with that Meredith was gone. She seemed to be okay. Shaking herself a bit, Callie rushed to the coffee cart outside to

The nurses smiled at Callie, a space had been cleared at the end of the desk, and there were already five cups there, and three different kinds of donuts. When she reached the cups she could see that each had a bit of writing on them.

 _Robbins, Jo wants to know if you and Torres still want dinner next week. - Alex_

 _Arizona, "happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light" - Maggie_

 _Where do I buy dish soap? - Andrew_

 _Why can't the bicycle stand up? Because it's too (two) tired. - April_

 _Joseph Preisley discovered oxygen in 1774. - Richard._

Callie looked up to see the nurse sitting at the station holding a sharpie out to her, she took it with a nod, and thought of what to write.

"You can say anything Dr. Torres." The nurse said, obviously having watched her struggle.

Finally, she decided, _Gather ye rosebuds, while ye may. - Calliope_

She left her offering with the others, and handed the sharpie back to the nurse behind the desk, and turned to walk away. It wasn't what she wanted to do, she wanted to gather Arizona in her arms and protect her, to hold her tightly until she could come out of this. But Meredith had told her not to, to give her space. So she would.

But she was called back by the soft question of the nurse in pink scrubs, "Do you want us to add your pager number to the list?"

"What list?"

"If Dr. Robbins runs out of cups here, someone else brings a new one. I don't know what's going on, I'm relatively new here, but we're supposed to take care of Dr. Robbins when she's like this. And you're together right? But you're name isn't on the page list."

Callie could only nod, and the nurse just nodded back.

She went to the peds floor and saw Arizona speaking to a patient, she looked like Arizona, looked like the radiant being she was, but her smile was wrong. It wasn't the fake smile she wore sometimes, or even her sad smile. It was like it belonged to someone else, and that frightened Callie. The therapist had told them to share their tools with each other, to talk about this, but she also knew that this was something that she couldn't bring up with Arizona. And thinking about what Meredith said, about how Arizona was after the crash and the amputation, how Callie had pushed and pushed and pushed, and did more harm than good for their relationship, she could understand.

But Arizona was fine yesterday. They had talked and smiled and made love, and were happy. When she thought about what they'd done and how they spent their time, she couldn't think of anything that predicted this. That explained this. And Meredith's words about it not being predictable swam through her head, but there had to be something. Though Callie also knew that this wasn't something she would be able to fix, try as she might, she couldn't fix this.

There were only coffee cups here in peds, Andrew's was the only one with writing on it, _Is it wrong to steal toilet paper from the hospital?_ But she recognized the writing of her other friends on it, scatterings of "yes's" and "no's" and "DELUCA" in Richard's scrawl. The nurse there also held a sharpie out to her, and she scrawled _And this maiden she lived with no other thought, than to love and be loved by me._ And she added her name to the pager list there as well.

But she had surgery scheduled, so she had to push the worry out of her mind and focus on her patient. And though it was a mostly lost battle, the knee replacement went well and her patient would recover quickly and be up and at it again.

But once they were in recovery, the worry of the morning hit Callie all over again. The need to do something more than stand in the shadows to watch and wait was so strong, so pulling that she didn't know what she could do with herself. She'd always had a problem with inaction, if there was something she could do, anything at all, she needed to do it. That's why she became a doctor, she was a helper, it was in her to help as much as she could, and being helpless now was frustrating. But she knew that she needed to let Arizona be, to let her girlfriend handle this how she knew how to handle, and Callie also knew that Arizona probably needed Callie to let her handle it. Even though it pained her to do so, she would let Arizona be, and when Arizona was ready, when this dark day was over, Callie would be there for her.

It was all she could do.

Going to the cafeteria to get lunch, she waved at Alex as he came in and he turned to make his way towards her where she was standing in line to get her food.

"You getting her lunch?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied softly, thankful for the people who were supporting Arizona, and by extension herself.

888*

April was in the ER, it was a slow day, nothing too emergent, except for Arizona. Which was lucky for April because on days like these, days where Arizona is unreachable, she needed to focus on Arizona. Though, she didn't really because it seemed like the whole hospital, well those that mattered anyway, were helping Arizona.

Karev, strange man that he was, discovered about the coffee. And though he laughed when he recounted the story four dark days ago, she saw the concern in his eyes. She was never sure where she stood with Alex Karev, personally, and as a doctor, or as Arizona's friend. But since that day, almost three years ago now, she knew that she had to like him because Arizona liked him, and she loved Arizona. And more importantly, she could see that Alex loved Arizona. He was a good man, Alex Karev.

And then when she had discovered tequila for Meredith, he was the one that usually took her to Joe's and she took the kids with Maggie or Amelia.

But now she was also worried about Callie. April guessed early in the day that Arizona hadn't told Callie about the dark days yet, and she could see the way that the brunette was dutifully trying to give Arizona the space that she needed. Arizona had been right, she didn't need to worry about Callie hurting Arizona again.

And as Callie walked into the ER to confer with her patient, an elderly man who had broken his wrist in a disastrous disco skating incident, she knew it was time to apologize to her.

"Dr. Torres?" She called when she saw that Callie had finished with her patient. If Callie looked surprised, she didn't show it.

"Dr. Kepner?" The Orthopedic surgeon asked, when she got closer.

"Dr. Torres. Callie, can I call you Callie?" Things had been tense between them since she's basically said she would murder the other woman. Which she had meant, but was still inappropriate. Not to mention illegal. Even when she had helped the other woman cook last weekend, they weren't Callie and April, they were Dr. Torres and Dr. Kepner.

Callie nodded, a tense smile on her face, shoulders weighed down.

"I owe you an apology, Callie. For the way I spoke to you. For the things I said."

Now she could see the surprise. "You mean when you threatened to end me?"

"Yes, that. It was wrong of me to speak to you like that, I'm sorry." And she was. Because watching Callie today, struggle with herself, struggle with what was happening with Arizona, April knew that she was trying. And that's all she needed to know that Callie was keeping her promise to take care of her friend and to try and make her happy. And April could admit that she was succeeding. She had also meant that this was the happiest she had seen the blonde in over four years, could see the change that being with Callie brought out in Arizona.

"Thank you, April." Callie's shoulders sagged a bit, and she leaned closer to April. "Do you remember the last time this happened?"

"It was Samuel's birthday, about a month before you came back." Because usually Arizona took her out for dinner and drinks, but she hadn't run into Arizona all day. It wasn't until after lunch when April had finally made it to the chapel to light a candle for her son that she had run into Arizona. Like literally ran into her, and Arizona had squeaked in surprise and ran away. So she had lit a candle for Arizona too, which she still had to do today.

"I have a fifteen minute break coming up, do you want to come to the chapel and light a candle for Arizona with me, we can pray for her too?" She asked Callie, who once again only nodded.

As they left the ER together, April could tell that Callie was struggling with something. "What is it Callie?"

"April, am I allowed, I mean can I, uhh, am I allowed to ask her about this?"

"Yes, but not today."

So they lit their candles, and it was Callie that reached for her hand and held tight as they sat down to pray.

888*

It was now ten o'clock at night, and Callie was lying on the couch. They had gone the whole day without speaking or without a least a text since they'd gotten back together, and Callie was still unsure of what to do. Everyone had told her to let Arizona be, and she was trying to hard to do that. Obviously these episodes, these dark days, passed, but she was still concerned. Sofia had asked for her momma again, but had relinquished sadly when Callie explained that momma was busy saving lives. She was now asleep upstairs, and Callie wasn't sure if she was laying on the couch to sleep or to wait for Arizona.

Suddenly the door to the house was opened quietly, and Arizona walked in quietly. She was still wearing scrubs and her hair was dishevelled, and she looked frazzled, but when their eyes met over the back of the couch, she smiled and Callie's heart soared.

"Arizo-" But she stopped when the blonde held up a finger, and pointed down the hall towards Sofia's room, Callie nodded her understanding and laid back down to wait for Arizona to come back.

Within minutes Arizona was back and standing over her, looking down at her.

"Take your shirt off please," the blonde asked on a whisper, and she was confused as Arizona just looked at her.

"Kangaroo Care." Arizona whispered as she took off her own shirt and bra, and was standing topless in the dark of their living room, backlit by the fireplace, and Callie understood. Sitting up Callie quickly removed her own shirt and bra, while Arizona stuck a couple more pillows behind her back. And when Callie was stretched along the length of the couch Arizona climbed on top of her, cheek resting right above her left breast, blonde hair and forehead tucked into Callie's chin. She hadn't even removed her prosthetic leg.

Callie was unsure what she was and was not allowed to do, but slowly she lifted her left hand to the base of Arizona's skull, lightly massaging away the tenseness she felt there, while her right started a slow path up and down Arizona's spine.

And they lay that way for a long while, Arizona's arms holding her tightly, Callie's arms and fingers massaging the tense muscles of Arizona's back and neck. She whispered the names of the vertebra and bones and muscles she touched, and slowly she felt the blonde relax in her arms.

"I'm sorry," Arizona whispered into Callie's chest.

"It's okay, Arizona." And Callie was okay with it. She would have preferred if Arizona had told her, but she understood why she hadn't. It had only been eight months since they were back together, and two that they had been living together. And though this was something the therapist warned them about, the fact that it was only coming up now, because it happened, was okay. Arizona and the therapist had said that you couldn't anticipate days like today, that you just had to accept them when they came, and deal with them then, and she had. With their friends help, Callie had dealt with it. And she would listen to April and not ask, she would wait a couple days.

"I mean for not telling you. I should have left you a note or something. I should have told you before. I should have told you."

"That's okay too."

"Hmmm," Arizona hummed against her chest, and nuzzled herself further into Callie's embrace. Callie felt the chill gathering on Arizona's back, so she reached for the throw that was behind the couch and covered them both. She was comforted by Arizona's weight on her, soothed by having the blonde in her arms.

"What was that line you wrote, about the maiden and being loved?"

"It's from an Edgar Allan Poe poem, 'Annabel Lee.'"

"Do you know the whole poem?"

"I do." She had fallen in love with Poe in high school, had even attempted to memorize The Raven, and she had succeeded, but as time had worn on the macabre timbre and tone of the poem left her. Annabel Lee was equally as depressing, as all of Poe was, but it had stayed with her.

"Can you tell me? About the poem?"

"It's about a man who talks about the love of his life, Annabel Lee. It's morbid and depressing, because she's dead and all he wants is to be with her."

"Is that how you felt today?" _Oh dammit._ She felt Arizona tense slightly, so Callie wrapped her more tightly, held her closer.

"No, oh my god, no Arizona. I'm so sorry."

"That's how I felt." The whispered confession broke Callie's heart a little bit.

"I'm so thankful to be alive Calliope. I'm so thankful that I get to watch Sofia grow up, and that I get to be her momma, and that I get to be with you again, and that on days like this I can come home and lay in your arms and be reminded how grateful I am for you and for your love."

"I do love you Arizona, and I'm glad that you're alive too." Arizona relaxed again, the previous tenseness melting out of the blonde.

"But days like this… days when death knocks… I feel like I can't move fast enough or far enough, and sometimes it's hard to remember everything I have to fight for. I'm not suicidal and I don't want to die, but sometimes… sometimes…"

"You don't have to say it Arizona. I know about the dark days now, I know what to do and how to take care of you, I know how to wait for you and I know how to be there for you."

And she did, and she would do it for as long as she needed to, as long as she was allowed.

"I'm not asking you right now Calliope, I just need to know that if I ask you to marry me again, I need to know what you're going to say." The whisper of Arizona's tone, the way that her finger tips dug into Callie's shoulder blades, the way small elbows dug into her ribs, gave her pause. Because she wanted to say yes, that yes of course she would marry Arizona again. That she _wanted_ to marry Arizona again. Wanted to be her wife, wanted to call Arizona her wife, to be the married parents of their beautiful child… but she didn't want it to happen like this.

She would take these days when they came, glady and happily, carry both of them through them because she loved Arizona, with everything she had, she loved her, and carrying the burden of these dark days, in the grand scheme of **THEM** and of the entirety of their ten year relationship, of them being together whether they were married or not, was not a burden. It was not something that she would regret sharing the load for.

But Arizona had read more into her silence than Callie had intended, "is that no?"

"No, Arizona, I'm not saying no. And I'm not saying yes because you haven't asked me anything. What I am saying is that now that you've put the idea out there hypothetically, I'm saying that hypothetically I want to be your wife, and that hypothetically, I want you to be mine. Hypothetically."

"Hypothetically?" Arizona asked, lifting herself from Callie's embrace, to look down at her.

And all Callie could do was stare back, blue eyes alight with mirth and a smile so magical and full of dimples.

"Well then, hypothetically," and Callie smiled when the blonde lowered herself to press a soft kiss to her lips, all warm skin and full of love, "You need to choose two bridesmaids, or two people, whatever, you need two because I actually already told April and Alex that I was going to marry you someday."

All Callie could offer in response was to lean up and capture Arizona in a deep kiss, where nothing was hypothetical about the way she felt.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: If you don't hate me a little bit after this, I'm doing something wrong.**

Arizona stopped in the doorway and just looked at Callie. She couldn't help it. Everything about her was exquisite. Even the way she slept, all legs and arms spread across the entire bed, hair everywhere, half on the pillow and half covering her face, a small tendril blowing in the soft, even breaths of sleep. Callie was on her back, sheet barely covering her legs, old tank top bunched beneath the generous swell of her breasts.

She'd been paged in for an emergency c-section just before midnight, and while there had been a few complications during closing, both mother and baby girl were doing well. She wasn't on call today, but as it was Sofia's birthday it wouldn't be any less busy than a day at the hospital. Looking at her watch, she groaned, in less than six hours their house would be filled with twenty-seven eight and nine year olds, and she would be run off her feet. Luckily Meredith and Maggie were coming, bringing Zola the best friend, as well as Bailey and Ellis, and Alex and Jo were planning on coming by to help, and some of the parents of Sofia's classmates were staying, but the adults would be outnumbered 3 to 1, and it was scary.

And Sofia, who normally would sleep as late as she could on the weekends, would probably wake in an hour, demanding her usual birthday breakfast. Though "birthday" breakfast was the same breakfast she got every other week, chocolate chip pancakes with banana slices and extra whipped cream, birthday breakfast was special. For some reason.

Arizona still didn't like her birthday, and loved absolutely loved, that everyone granted her wish and left her alone. Except Callie, because Callie's birthday present to her had been Callie. She had sent Sofia off to a sleepover, and then sat on their bed, naked, a ridiculous party hat on her head, and a single donut with a single candle. Just like the first birthday she had spent with Callie, sans lingerie, and it was also the first time she had told Callie that she loved her. And this second time, she was even more in love with Callie now than she had been then.

And then, a further birthday present, Callie had had her way with Arizona, even though Arizona jokingly pouted that she hadn't gotten to unwrap her present. But then Callie did that thing, that miraculous thing with her tongue that Arizona swore was some form of magic, and all complaints were gone from Arizona's mind, even the joking ones.

So Sofia had obviously gotten her love of big birthday celebrations from Callie and Mark, having attended massive parties for both of them. Having thrown a couple for Callie herself, just as she was throwing one for Sofia.

But this was also a day that she celebrated Calliope, because this was the day that Callie survived. The day that Arizona sat at her bedside and begged her to be okay, to wake up, and to survive. The day that Callie had agreed to marry her.

Grabbing the present she had gotten for Callie from her closet, she walked to their bed and sat softly, hoping that the brunette wouldn't wake up, she put the gift on her bedside table and quickly removed her pants and her prosthethic, slipping under the warm sheets and snuggling in close to the warmth of Calliope. This was the move that roused her girlfriend, as Callie's arms came to wrap softly around her, resisting the call of awakeness, grasping for the reaches of sleep. So Arizona pressed a soft kiss to a warm, caramel cheek hoping to soften the landing from sleep to awake, gripping warmer skin tightly, holding her lover closer.

"Mmm," the rumbled of a hum passed through Arizona, reaching into her very soul and warming her from the inside. While loving Calliope Torres wasn't exactly a choice, it was more an inevitably, it was one that Arizona was glad that she made. Both times, every time, for all time.

"Good morning Calliope," she whispered against Callie's temple, glad for the millionth time that Callie had woken up, that Callie had chosen to survive, that the miraculous woman in her arms existed not just in her head or her heart, but was alive and warm and soft.

"Mornin', hmm. How'd surgery go?" Even her voice was a thing of exquisite beauty. All honey dripped warmth, soft with sleep, raspy from from the long night, and full of a depth and breadth of emotion that Arizona couldn't begin to catalogue if you asked, because she got lost in it every moment, hung on every word.

"Mom and baby girl are good. Turner, the OB fellow, has them." Because she was needed elsewhere. She was needed here. "If you open your eyes darling, I have a present for you."

"'S not my birthday?" For some reason, Callie hadn't ever connected the reason for gifts from Arizona on this day, because they'd had the same conversation four of the last eight years. Granted, there had been a four year lull in the middle there, but the brunette was surprisingly clueless.

"I'm aware, but I got you something anyway." Well, really only part of it was new, the black velvet box nestled below the slips of paper in the narrow jar contained the engagement ring she had purchased for Calliope. But you couldn't see that, she had hidden it well. The slips of paper were now more almost five years old, or most of them at any rate. The stack of letters was as aged, except for the one on top. The one that she would make Callie read this morning.

"Come on sleepy head, our daughter will wake up soon, and then you won't have time to enjoy your present even a little bit." It was those words that finally caused the eyes that she loved most in the world opened, and a smiled to spread across the face that she adored.

"Hey, beautiful." Arizona whispered, leaning in for a kiss.

It was over far too soon for her liking, and Arizona reluctantly pulled away, because she did actually want to give this gift to Callie, did want Callie to reach the bottom of the glass jar filled with all the reasons she loved her, and she wanted Callie to find that black velvet box, and she wanted Callie to open it.

"Where's my present?"

Arizona just laughed at the petulant look on Callie's and reached for the gift bag. She clutched it to her chest for a moment, not able to look at Callie.

"So, I'm not hesitant to give this to you, or worried, or anything like that. But I am nervous… for various reasons." A lot of reasons.

"Why?"

"Just open it," she said, unceremoniously thrusting the bag at Callie.

She watched, with trepidation and fear, as Callie opened the bag. She pulled out the jar first, and looked at it from all angles, and set it aside to pull out the tightly bound stack of letters.

"Arizona, what is this?"

"Do you see the first letter, how it says 'Read this first because it will answer all your questions?' Maybe if you read that, all your questions will be answered." She said, feeling the smirk on Callie's match her own.

Her nervousness only expanded and grew as Callie opened the first letter and began to read it.

"Out loud, please Calliope."

So Callie started over;

 _My Dearest Calliope,_

 _You are clueless, in the best way possible. I give you presents on Sofia's birthday because it's the day you fought to stay alive. So I'm the lucky one because I got two gifts that day. And shut up, I do what I want. I'll give you gifts and you can't stop me._

 _In therapy you said I should have told you the things I loved about you, and while I am doing that now, it was a lesson I learned too late. The paper in the jars is not just decorative wrapping, who do you think I am? Martha whatever her name is? No, I am me, and you are you. After the divorce, I started writing the things I love about you on slips of paper. Eventually they gathered in this jar, and now it's for you. Don't mind the receipts, or napkins, even though it looks like trash, it's not._

 _The letters are letters I wrote to you over the last five years. There's a lot of emotion in them, not all of them good. To be honest, I'm not sure if they're in any sort of order, I kind of just threw them in the shoebox, and as they are sealed I couldn't check. So don't be surprised if you open one and it's good things and then the next one is bad things. Whatever things you find in them, know that they were honest and true things when I wrote them._

 _But most of all, I want you to know that I love you. I should tell you more, I should spend every second of every day telling you how much I love you. It consumes me, in a way that I would embrace a million times over. I want to spend every second of every day telling you how much I love you. My heart is full with you and Sofia, and I am so glad that I get to spend my days being in love with you._

 _You are the light of my life, Calliope. The love of my life._

 _With everything that I am, and everything that I have, I am yours._

 _The Universe and U, Arizona._

 _ps. When Sofia saw what I was doing, she added some of her own._

Arizona watched as tears gathered in Callie's eyes as she read aloud. Felt the shake of emotion when Callie's voice wavered or trembled. Just as she was about to pull her into her arms, to add action to her words, there was a knock at their door, and the excited cadence of their daughter, "Wake up mommies, it's my birthday!"

888*

Callie hadn't seen Arizona in almost two days, aside from glances and a quick squeeze of fingers as an OR was transferred between them for surgeries after a bridge collapse. But she finally had a moment to herself, and could sit down and pull out the stack of letters that Arizona had given her. She'd being able to pull two slips from the jar, she hadn't rifled just chosen two right from the top. The first had been from Sofia, _Mommy has really pretty hair._ And she had laughed. Even now, when her baby was eight years old, she had a fascination with Callie's hair. She could remember once when she was sick and throwing up, Arizona had whispered to Sofia to stroke mommy's hair, and their daughter had done it almost constantly from that time on.

The one from Arizona was bit more touching, _The way you kiss me when you're excited, like you're trying to make me excited. It works every time._ If there was anything wrong with this whole thing, is was that none of it was dated. Though Arizona had said that it was all written post divorce, the present tense of it tugged at her heart strings. Arizona had admitted to not falling out of love with her for more than two years after the divorce, and that was a hard thing to bear for Callie. While she had moved on quicker than Arizona had, she too had taken a long time to fall out of love with the blonde.

These reminders were a visceral remembrance of the time they had lost. Yes, they both agreed that it was time well spent, even necessary for them to find each other again, but the sheer number of them made her view that time as possibly unnecessary. It was a fleeting and small feeling, but still it was there. And even then, Callie didn't regret it. They had found each other again, and the time apart from each other was necessary for them to do so.

Finding a quiet corridor, Callie sat on an empty gurney, and folded her legs under herself, tucking the letters she had brought with her to read under her knee for safe keeping. Unsure of what she would find inside, she let out a shaky breath, and rued the way her fingers shook as she opened the letter, feeling the way her breath caught as she began to read.

 _Callie,_

 _We're divorced now. I've just signed the papers to dissolve our domestic partnership. I mean technically we have to wait like a week for it to actually be dissolved, so for now, I'm just going to keep calling you my wife. Because soon you will be my ex-wife, and it hurts._

 _In therapy you asked me why I didn't tell you the things I love about you when we were together, and I didn't have an answer for you then. But I have one now. It's because I thought you knew. Which is terrible, right? I mean a wife is supposed to say those things, a wife isn't supposed to think her wife knows, she supposed to make sure she knows. April and Matthew were given a book during their marriage counselling, called The Five Languages of Love, and honestly it's ridiculous. But, and please, just… listen. So obviously five love languages, one of yours, probably the biggest, is "Words of Affirmation." You need people to tell you when they're proud of you. When they love you. And not in a vain way, because you're not vain or arrogant or pompous or anything like that. The reason I know this is one of your love languages, is because you tell everyone the good things about them all the time. The residents, Sofia, me, the interns, patients. Your words have power Callie, and you always use them for good. People listen when you talk. You're eloquent, and articulate, and smart, so smart, and intelligent. And I missed that about you. Not that I miss you, miss you, even though I do miss you, but I didn't recognize it as something that you would need to hear back. I don't know. Maybe I was a bad wife. Maybe I was bad at being your wife._

 _You said I made you feel small. That I took some inches from you. I can see that. So I'm going to do what you asked me to, I'm going to let you go. Because I am still in love with you. From the very first moment I met you, when I followed you into that dirty bar bathroom, I knew there was something special about you. I could see it in your eyes. I could see that you, Calliope Iphegenia Torres, were going to change the world. You changed mine. You changed me._

 _Walk tall Torres, because you're magnificent._

 _Arizona._

 _ps. Sorry about the tear stains. I can't write another version of this letter, this is already the seventh and if I cry on anymore paper I'm going to get dehydrated._

And throughout the page, words scribbled in the hasty scrawl of the woman she loved were obscured by water marks. Dragging her fingers over the script, she traced the tear stains and was surprised to find her own eyes were dry. She could feel the tears gathering in the back of her throat, a painful reminder of the way that Arizona could pull emotions from her without even trying.

Lightly folding the letter back into its envelope, she set it to the side and just looked at it, trying to remember when Arizona had shifted from being her _wife_ to her _ex-wife._ She couldn't remember.

Sighing, she opened a second letter.

 _Callie,_

 _I have never been this sad in my entire life. How could you let them say those things about me? How? Do I mean so little to you now, that taking me out at the knees and then kicking me when I'm down, is okay to you? You disgust me._

 _Do you know what the worst part is though? The absolute worst part about this? When you sat beside me on that bench, all I wanted to do was kiss you. I disgust myself. I saw you, sitting there lying to me, lying about what you thought of me, just… and I just wanted to rip all of your clothes off and then rip all of my clothes off and then I wanted to beat you with my prosthetic leg and then kiss it all better. Then beat you again._

 _And I can't even be happy that I won because you're just as heartbroken as I would be if I lost._

 _But I do have a question. Why did you let me adopt her if you think so little of me? I wonder if you feel this way now, have you always felt it? Why did you let me fall in love with her, why did you let me be her mother, if you questioned my devotion to her, why did you do it?_

 _I am so angry at you. But she's OUR daughter, and she's sitting right there in the living room with Andrew, and they are talking and laughing, and she looks so much like you that I can't stand the thought of you crying. So I'm going to bring her to you, even though I don't have to, because she's ours._

 _I am angry._

Callie could see the rage that had built up in Arizona while she wrote this. Could feel the waves of hot anger rolling off the page.

Quickly pulling out a third letter, she opened it hoping that it was something different than the one she had just read. Not that she didn't deserve to be the subject of Arizona's anger over that, she did. But it was hard to read. She had assumed, but even the fact that Arizona cared about her welfare when she was that angry, spoke volumes about her character.

 _Callie,_

 _I had a dream about you. It was a good dream. You were standing on a beach, wearing that skimpy red bikini I loved, and you had this flowing pink sarong wrapped around you. Don't worry, it wasn't a sex dream. Your hair and the sarong were carried on the wind, and the setting sun behind you made you look like an angel._

 _Remember that trip to Maui we took? I remember a similar scene, just watching you watch the waves and the world. You looked so peaceful, then and in my dream. I hope you can find that peace again. Our lives, together and apart, have been full of so much turmoil and peace has been hard to find. I want that for you. More than anything, I want you to find peace, and I want you to hold on to it, hold on to it and never let it go._

 _In my dreams, you are happy. You are full of love and peace, and joy… and you are happy. It's all I've ever wanted for you. I'm sorry that I took that from you. I'm so sorry Callie._

 _But this is how I choose to remember you. The sun on your face, the wind in your hair, and the water at your feet. And it's beautiful._

 _Arizona_

"Callie, are you crying?" Callie jumped a little, Meredith's voice jarred her from the vision that Arizona's words had conjured in her mind. Quickly, she wiped her tears and gathered the letters to her chest, to keep them hidden and safe from prying eyes.

"What? Yeah, no, I mean no, I'm fine." But she could tell that Meredith didn't believe her, the younger surgeon coming to sit beside her on the gurney. She tried to tuck the letters away, out of sight, not for a second attempting to believe that Meredith hadn't seen them.

"Callie. What's wrong?"

But Callie couldn't answer. She knows that this hadn't been Arizona's intention, knows that Arizona was just doing what Callie had asked of her, to share these moments with her. And that she was succeeding at doing that.

Her resolve to keep these private between her and Arizona breaking, Callie thrust the letter into Meredith's hand. "Read this."

And she watched as Meredith read, watched the way her icey blue eyes widened, watched the way frown lines appeared between her eyes. Watched as her face softened. "I didn't know Robbins was a poet."

Neither had Callie.

"So, why are you crying? I know the difference between your sad tears and your happy tears, and these are sad."

"She gives me a gift every year on Sofia's birthday, a celebration present, because I survived too. She said that she got two gifts that day. This year she gave me a box of letters she wrote to me after the divorce, and a jar full of little notes about the things she loved about me. Loves about me."

"That sounds a whole heck of a lot like a Nicholas Sparks movie."

"Right?"

"But, I guess it is Robbins. But wait, did you say after the divorce?"

"Yeah."

"So you weren't together when she wrote this?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Damn."

"Yeah."

Callie and Meredith then sat in silence together. The last of the unread letters beginning to feel hot under her knee. Arizona had said that there were good things and bad things contained in them, that she wasn't sure which letter contained what. But Callie hadn't expected this rollercoaster.

Making another decision, she held out the last unopened letter she had with her to Meredith, "Read this, read this and tell me if it's happy."

She decided not to watch Meredith as she read this one. She wasn't sure if she could. Minutes later, she felt Meredith's hand on her arm, the comforting weight soothing her a bit.

"It's not happy. But it's not sad either. It's bittersweet. It's… read it."

But Callie shook her head, and whispered "Can you read it to me?"

 _Calliope,_

 _It's the first time I've allowed myself to write that out. I said it to myself, out loud for the first time. It floats around my head like a song that you don't quite know the words too, but it makes you happy, so you hold on to it. You know I don't hold much value to the words of a song, that I'm okay without finding meaning in them. Which is strange, right? Music is meant to move us, to evoke emotion with the melody and the lyrics, they're trying to say something and we're supposed to listen._

 _It happened again, for maybe the second time in my life, that a song meant something to me. The first is what I still consider to be "our song," you know the one. This one… I know you hate Snow Patrol, I'm so sorry. But it's "New York."_

 _You left with Sofia yesterday, to go to New York. To be happy. And I hope you are, or will be. I want you to be, even without me. And this song, god, if this isn't us._

 _If you were here beside me, instead of in New York_

 _If the curve of you was curved on me_

 _I'd tell you that I loved you before I even knew you_

 _Cause I loved the simple thought of you_

 _Like, come on, Snow Patrol. You'd hate so much that I'm rewriting our story to Snow Patrol. But you know what, this is my story now. I don't have you anymore. You're not mine anymore, so you can suck it Calliope, because this is my story now. I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. The "suck it" part._

 _The lone neon lights and the ache of the ocean_

 _And the fire that was starting to spark_

 _I miss it all, from the love to the lightning_

 _And the lack of it snaps me in two_

 _If you were here beside me, instead of in New York_

 _In the arms you said you'd never leave_

 _I'd tell you that it's simple and it was only ever thus_

 _There is nowhere else that I belong_

 _He's just there, singing about my life. Talking about me and the way I'm missing you like crazy. The way that I'm still in love with you, 732 days after you walked out on our marriage, my heart stuck to the bottom of your shoes like gum or toilet paper, and here I am, pining after you. It's honestly ridiculous. But when I was still angry at you and Sofia asked me why you're so sad all the time, I realized that I couldn't be angry at you any more. So I've let it go._

 _The lone neon lights and the ache of the ocean_

 _And the fire that was starting to spark_

 _I miss it all, from the love to the lightning_

 _And the lack of it snaps me in two_

 _Just give me a sign, there's an end with a beginning_

 _To the quiet chaos driving me back_

 _The lone neon lights and the warmth of the ocean_

 _And the fire that has started to go out_

 _And it came on the radio as I drove home from dropping Sofia off at your hotel room, after I said goodbye to her. You hugged me again, and that was when I started to fall out of love with you. Not because your arms didn't feel like home, not because they didn't feel like the place I belong. But because the fire I felt for you, the one that raged and burned and was beautiful, but was so destructive to you, it's started to go. Truthfully I was pulled over on the side of the road crying because my baby was gone, gone to live with another woman who will get to love her and see her every day and get to hug her every day, and I don't begrudge Penny or you for that, I made this choice._

 _I let you go for you Calliope, two years ago I let you go for you. And I don't regret that choice. You're walking tall again, your smile is back, your laugh is fuller and brighter, your eyes sparkle again._

 _But now I'm letting you go for me. Because you're not here beside me, in my arms that you said you'd never leave. You're in New York. And I'm letting you go._

 _Your friend, Arizona_

Without speaking further, Callie pulled out her phone and looked up the song on youtube, playing it softly between her and Meredith. After the first verse, Meredith's hand was in hers and all they did was sit and listen. Arizona was right, she hated Snow Patrol.

888*

It was four days later that she finished the letters and she was very near the bottom of the jar of things that Arizona, and Sofia, loved about her. Love about her. Some she had returned to the jar, not needing to read them twice to have the words burned brightly into her brain.

 _The way your tongue can make me come in seconds._

 _I love the way you say I love you and I can feel it._

Others she had set aside because they were from things after Arizona had said she'd fallen out of love with her, things that had never been said, things that Callie had done because she still cared about Arizona, as her ex-wife and as Sofia's other mother. As Sofia's momma.

 _I love that you called my mother with your New York number._

 _I love that you ask Sofia's friend's parents to meet me over skype if Sofia wants a sleepover._

 _I love that Sofia is so much like you that she complains about the food but doesn't stop asking for the same things._

The letters hadn't been nearly as heart breaking as the ones she had read that first day. Most were sweet, even the one she had written, drunkenly, after meeting Penny and talk about how good looking the red head was, had made Callie laugh. The worst was the one where she described crying during sex with the first woman she'd had sex with after Callie. How she knew she had game before and during the courting ritual, those were the exact words she had used and blamed it on the Discovery Channel, but when the sex was happening all she did was cry. And then just sat and sobbed in the living room.

All in all, Callie could honestly say she had learned a lot about Arizona during their four years apart. Some of it, she knew already, some of it was new and she had greatly enjoyed learning about Arizona. The growth she had gone through, the pain and struggle, the joy of thinking she could fall in love again, the pain of being abandoned without a word. The shear strength of the blonde had always mesmerized Callie, but in the 19 letters that were addressed to her, it came out again.

Taking her lunch to the same gurney where she had read the first letters, Callie brought the jar with her as there wasn't much left in it, she could finish the last of the slips. So far there had been 98 slips, written on torn post its, dirty napkins, clean napkins, the backs of receipts, a take-out menu, and torn slips of regular note paper. It seemed that Arizona had grabbed whatever was nearest and jotted down the thought before it could leave her. The few that were from Sofia were all on neatly cut out squares of construction paper, and some were from when she was very little, so Callie knew that the blonde had put effort into sharing this with their daughter.

Deciding just to dump the rest on the gurney, she dropped her lunch to the floor when a small velvet box dropped heavily to the bed. Placing the jar gently, her eyes never leaving the small black box, she just stared at it. It was calling to her, calling to her in a way that nothing had ever called to her before.

 _It may not even be what you think it is._ Ran through her mind. But what if it was?

Or what if it wasn't.

 _But what if it was._

She knew she wouldn't know until she opened it. Knew she would know when she picked it up and opened it. She knew what she wanted it to be, knew she had a similar box stashed in the back of her desk in her lab, but she also knew that it was just sitting there… staring back at her.

Quickly picking up all the pieces of paper and stuffing them back in the jar, closing the lid tightly and setting it aside once again, she was surprised at how steady her hand was as she picked up the box. It felt heavier than the box she had, so maybe it wasn't what she thought it was.

Or maybe it felt heavier because it was what she thought it was.

She opened it, an unexpected "oh" leaving her lips. It was a piece of paper. Lightly pulling back the slip of paper, she saw that underneath was what she thought it was. Well maybe. It was a ring, that's for sure. But maybe it wasn't the kind of ring she thought it was. There were other kinds of rings, right?

Closing the box, she held it tightly to her chest, and fumbled the strip of paper open. _I'm not gonna ask you to marry me when I'm not even there. Find me._

Well wasn't that a bit presumptuous of Arizona. Assuming that Callie wouldn't be near her when she found this box.

Grabbing the jar and tightening her grip, she ran to Arizona's office, intending to find the blonde and be asked a question. Halfway there, she realized that her own ring for Arizona was in her lab, so she turned quickly and retrieved it before making her way back to Arizona's office on the fifth floor. And she wasn't there, the OB nurses directed her to peds, saying that Arizona wanted to check on one of her preemies. So she turned and descended the stairs.

The nurse there directed Callie to the OR, and running to the stairs again, not trusting the world's slowest elevator, she ran down the stairs to the OR floor, stopped at the board to find "ROBBINS," she ran to the gallery, only slightly dismayed to see that the room was filled with their friends, their friends who looked surprised to see her, almost as much as she was surprised to find them watching a routine appendectomy. What even was her life?

Hitting the intercom button, and listening to Arizona chat idly with the nurses, and guiding a resident through the appy, she said after only a moment, holding up the black velvet box that was more question than the one she asked, "What is this?"

Behind her, Maggie said "It looks like a box." And Alex said "A box?" and there was a smattering of other chatter, but she shushed them with a harsh glare and a wave of her hand.

"What does it look like Calliope?"

"It looks like this, Arizona." And she held up her identical black box. She felt extremely foolish, holding up two boxes with two different rings and not knowing what one meant, but knowing what the other did.

"What is that?"

"I know what this one is," Callie shook the box in her right hand, their friends and coworkers behind them having gone eerily silent, the steady beeping of the monitors in the OR filling the room. "I bought this one for you, I know what it means. What I don't know is, is what this one means." She shook her left hand. "What does it mean?"

"What does yours mean?"

She turned to glare at Wilson when the woman whispered, "It's like a daytime soap opera!"

Turning back to Arizona, that ridiculous butterfly scrub cap on her head, that ridiculous butterfly scrub cab that she had once prayed to God for help getting over, which she had never gotten over, blue eyes shining and happy.

"Are we really gonna do this right now?" She asked.

But it wasn't Arizona that answered her, it was April and Maggie and Andrew and Richard and Alex and Jackson and Jo all nodding, and Meredith saying "Hell yeah, you are." Even the resident who was assisting nodded, and Bohkee was smiling at both of them, her wise and knowing eyes flitting between the two of them.

A beat passed, and she heard Arizona's sigh. Her happy sigh that filled Callie with love.

So she asked, even though this was the most ridiculous thing that had ever happened to her, which was saying a lot, Callie looked at Arizona, met those impossibly blue eyes and saw that ridiculous butterfly scrub cap and she asked, "Will you marry me?"


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: This is mostly flashbacks, FYI. I hope it's not too confusing.**

They were wearing their wedding dresses. Arizona was in a navy blue and white number, that accentuated her eyes, but also paled in comparison to them. Her blonde hair was left wavy, a serious discussion between her and Callie about it looking better this way, Sofia agreeing as she played with the strands. Callie was wearing a shockingly deep red, almost maroon knee length dress, that Arizona could only stare at. The contrast between caramel skin and wine coloured dress was drastic and sexy. Drastically sexy. Sofia was wearing a similar colour to her mommy, but had a navy sash around her waist. The colours kind of clashed, but she wore it well and both of her mothers thought she was the most adorable little flower girl that they had ever seen.

But their guests didn't know that these were wedding dresses. Didn't know that the BBQ they were attending in the early summer was a wedding. A surprise wedding. They'd lied to their friends about the purpose of this BBQ, and though each of the women had already paid for the three dresses and new suit for the four people who would stand with them, and had stashed them upstairs along with the hair stylists for the three woman, they stood together, hands clasped, as they watched their friends, their family, have a good day.

It was all thanks to Miranda Bailey that everyone was able to be here. She was the only one who knew what was going on, because they had needed her to use her chiefly powers to make sure everyone had the day off. Though she had said that if an emergency happened, which they always seemed to happen, everyone had to go in anyway. But before that happened, Chief Miranda Bailey had told the hospital staff not to page any of the wedding guests, and in no uncertain terms except "hand you your behind," bad things would happen if anyone was paged in.

So together they stood, under the trellis covered with flowing ivy and dangling twinkly lights, watching. The sun was about to set, and they had about an hour to get everyone in position so that they could marry at sunset.

It was Callie that cleared her throat to get the attention of their friends. "Excuse me," she called in vain.

But Chief Bailey knew. Chief Bailey used her chief voice, "Y'all better shut up and listen to Torres." And every had. Except the children who were playing on Sofia's playset under the ever watchful eyes of Owen and Teddy.

All eyes turned to the women, smiles on their faces and drinks in their hands.

"So we're gonna get married." Gasps of shock, a look of love on Arizona's face as she only had eyes for Callie. "Right now."

"Alex, your suit is in the office." Arizona began, smiley fondly at her favourite protege, "Addison, Meredith, and April your dresses are in our bedroom." The three women spread across the yard beamed radiantly back at them. "Maggie, Zola's dress is in Sofia's room. Can you help her?" Maggie nodded, a smile on her face.

But no one moved until Chief Miranda Bailey yelled, in her own way, "You people have work to do, let's get moving." And like that, everyone was in motion as if they were dressed in navy or light blue scrubs, and not in "casual dress" as they'd asked their guests to come. Sofia and Zola were hand in hand, running into the house followed closely by Maggie. Alex and Jo weren't far behind, walking hand in hand. And behind them Addison, Meredith, and April followed.

But it was Richard who came towards them, very closely to whisper, "I don't have a suit here, or my speech planned. I'm not prepared for this."

Arizona just pointed towards the house, where Catherine Fox stood, suit bag held aloft and a smile on her face. Richard smile at his wife and then turned back to the woman, a smile on his face. "You guys are devious. How long do I have?"

"45 minutes," Bailey said from behind him. "Get a move on Webber."

1*

" _Will you marry me?" Callie's words rang out in the deafening silence, as blue eyes were glued to brown, their friends, their family, all staring between them. Waiting with baited breath, breathing steadily, or holding their breath, eyes darting between the orthopedic surgeon and the pediatric surgeon._

" _I was gonna ask you." Arizona whispered, and Callie's heart soared. Because what she heard in the words was "yes" and "yes of course I will" and "I love you."_

" _I asked first." Callie replied, but what she really said was "if you asked, I would have said yes," and "I love you too."_

 _Then the resident asked a question, and blue eyes flitted from Callie, and she felt her heart soar as Arizona focused on her resident and blinked, hesitating only for a second before answering the question in a soft voice. Callie loved the way that Arizona taught her residents, the way that she never failed to make them feel stupid, even if the question they asked was stupid, loved the way that Arizona loved teaching, put as much effort into raising her residents and interns as she did Sofia. Loved the way that her hands guided the residents, the way her words could make them feel like they were good surgeons, and not just baby surgeons. She loved Arizona._

 _Finally, those blue eyes turned back to her, and though her face was covered with a mask, Callie could see her smile, that super magical smile, all dimples and happiness and love, reached her eyes._

 _And all she said was "Yes."_

2*

"Why are you so nervous?" Jo asked him, from her perch on the desk.

Alex was struggling to tie his tie. It was a deep, emerald green. It was a nice tie, nicer than any tie he'd ever bought for himself. And he was nervous. He was so nervous. Because he loved Robbins. And he loved Torres. And Sofia. He loved them all.

But he was nervous because he loved Robbins. Because despite his shitty childhood and his shitty life before he came to Seattle, and how shitty he was before he met Robbins, and even how shitty he was after he'd met her. She had chosen him. Not just to be her resident, or her fellow, or her replacement, but she had chosen him to be her friend. And in all the things they had been to each other, she had continued to choose him.

She hadn't given him a choice whether or not to love her, because she kept choosing him. And he'd broken her heart… broken it so many times that he didn't know why she kept choosing him.

"I just," he started, finally looking at his own wife. The way she smiled at him, the way she could look at him and he knew that people did choose him. Jo had chosen him, Meredith had chosen him, Sofia and Zola and Bailey and Ellis and Harriet had chosen him. "I just…"

"I know, Alex." Jo whispered to him, finally coming over and tie his tie for him. Her fingers lingering on his neck softly when she had finished. He bent to give her a soft kiss.

3*

" _Addison," Callie said, interrupting the flow of their weekly facetime conversation._

 _And to her credit, the red haired woman stopped uncharacteristically talking and just looked at her. Green eyes alight with concern._

" _Callie," she'd said. The sound of her son playing in the background breaking the tension slightly, and all Callie could do was stare at her friend._

" _I asked her to marry me. Again. Well I mean, she asked the first time. But it's not crazy right… it's not crazy." But even to herself, Callie knew that even simply asking the question and answering it meant that she thought it was crazy. She wanted to marry Arizona Robbins. She wanted to spend her life with Arizona, wanted to be her wife._

 _But she had wanted that the last time she had married her. And look what that had gotten them. Divorced. Broken. Destroyed. And suddenly it didn't matter that they were good now. Better, they were excellent now. They talked, really talked, about the things that mattered. And they listened, and they didn't talk over each other. They were amazing._

 _But Callie had thought that last time, too. So this was crazy right, taking that chance again. Wishing and hoping wasn't enough anymore. Wanting it to work and trying to make it work weren't always enough._

" _Callie." Was all Addison had said, and Callie's eyes snapped back to the screen. "How long have we known each other?"_

" _Uhh… 13 years?"_

" _Right. We're old women now. Well… older. And we're smarter than we were before, right? Do you remember when you first told me about Arizona? All you said was that you kissed a peds surgeon. And you were hung up on her butterfly scrub cap. That's it. You weren't worried about anything but the butterflies."_

" _She still wears that scrub cap."_

" _And you're still with her. There have been bumps and breaks and crashes and legs and cheating… but you're still with her. And she's still with you."_

 _The last ten years flashed in Callie's mind. The bad was there, but it wasn't painful, it was in the past. Somewhere along the way all the past good was made better, was made brighter. The present good was. And she was so in love with Arizona, crazily and insanely in love with Arizona._

" _But it's crazy right, Addie?"_

" _Love is crazy."_

 _It wasn't an answer, but Callie held up her finger for a moment of silence. She picked up her phone and dialled Dr. Dawson. "Can we have an appointment? It's an emergency?" The therapist agreed, and she text Arizona about the date and time. Not telling her what it was about._

 _Turning back to Addison, "You'll come be one of my maid's of honor, or my best man, or whatever?"_

" _When?"_

4*

Miranda Bailey took her job as yard organizer seriously. She was gonna get this yard exactly the way she wanted, Robbins and Torres be damned. Well not really, she was following their scant and vague description. But she was the Chief, and Avery and DeLuca and Ben were following her orders. She told them where to place the chairs, she instructed Hunt and Altman to gather the children and settle them. Shepard and Catherine and Mrs. Robbins were helping the caterers. Mr. Torres and Mr. The Colonel were laying out the soft linen cloth.

Everyone was doing what she told them to do, and they would get this surprise wedding off without a hitch.

Sure, she was a little miffed that they hadn't asked her to officiate again, but that would pass. She was just glad that Torres and Robbins had finally pulled they heads out they butts and were doing this again.

How many times those two stubborn and brilliant women had come to her, together and separately, for advice about the other and didn't listen. Then Torres, fool that she was, left. And then she came back and while she didn't get into the personal stuff, because usually when she did people started having sex in her hospital and that was just wrong, she was hesitant about them getting back together.

They had ruined each other. Their love, when it was on, filled the whole hospital and everyone in it with light and happiness. But when they were off… woo baby. It was bad.

But she was the chief, she saw everything. Saw the way that the light had filled the hospital again, even on the dark day that Robbins had last month, it was still light. She saw the way that Torres hovered, but she saw the way that she'd hung back and just watched.

These two… man these two. They needed to stop having sex in her hospital.

She doubted they will.

"Avery, I said straight lines, what you doing?"

5*

 _Arizona was in the changing room in the dress store, trying on what felt like the hundreth dress. She didn't know what she was doing. Was she really going to marry Calliope again? Was that a good idea?_

 _She loved her, with everything she had. But… marriage? Did they need that again? They were so good right now, good how they were. They had that house with that mantle, and they had Sofia, and they were together and supportive and good. Marriage had ruined them. Well… sort of. The marriage part was good, it was after that was bad._

" _Is this crazy?" She asked to the room._

 _Alex, who was sitting uncomfortably outside the two dressing rooms, said back "What's crazy is that you've each tried on like a bajillion different dresses, and I've looked at each of them, and you're both beautiful, so can we go please."_

" _It's a little crazy," April's response from the room next to hers was muffled and quiet._

 _She knew this was crazy. It was insane._

 _But it was also Calliope. Calliope, who's smile could make anything better. Calliope, who when she looked at, could still take her breath away._

 _But it was ALSO Calliope. The woman who broke her in ways that Arizona didn't even know were possible. Who had taken her daughter, twice. The first was kind of her own fault, after you know, the cheating. But to have not told her where she was? The second was definitely her fault, had sent her with her blessing._

 _But it was also Calliope. Who no matter how many times she left her, or Arizona left Callie, they came back together. She wasn't lying when she told Callie that she had made Arizona believe in soulmates. From the first look across the crowded OR, to the kiss in that dirty bar bathroom, to the ridiculous way that Callie had asked her to marry her… it was always Callie._

 _Yes, she'd broken Callie as much as Callie had broken her, but Calliope had fixed her and loved her in ways that Arizona didn't know were possible either._

 _Stepping out of the room in the latest dress she was trying on, she looked at Alex who was just looking back at her. His mouth gaped once, and then twice before he found his voice. "That one. That's the dress."_

" _Yeah," April agreed softly._

" _Look, Robbins, I ain't gonna lie to you. I was, you know, hesitant about all this." He waved his hand in a distracted way, but she was mesmerized by him. "I took you in when she kicked you out, and I'll do it again. But I like both of you. I know what happened to each of you after… everything. So yes, it's crazy. It's insane, but dude. You guys are crazy good together."_

 _To her side, April nodded at Alex's words. Offering them both a smile._

 _Alex turned to look at April. "No, not that one. The green one, like four dresses ago." He turned back to Arizona and frowned at her. "Now let's go, you promised me pizza and beer and I'm starving."_

 _She paid for their choices, and when they were wrapped and heading out of the store, they ran into Callie who was doing similar shopping with Addison, Meredith, Sofia, and Zola._

" _No," Arizona screeched, stuffing the dresses hidden in bags between herself and Alex's back and peeking over Alex and April's shoulders to look at Callie, whose eyes were covered by Addison's hand._

" _Hi momma!" Sofia squeaked, pushing her way past Alex and April to give her a hug. April's hand came up to grab the package, and she took Arizona's place behind Alex so that she could bend to hug her daughter._

" _Hi little bug! Have you found a pretty dress yet?"_

" _Not yet, momma. Mommy said nothing has been right. But she looked really pretty in everything." Sofia tugged her hand down, and whispered conspiratorially in her ear, "I did what you said, and told her she looked pretty in everything, but she just didn't listen."_

" _That's all right, little bug." She said standing, but not releasing Sofia from her arms._

" _Did you guys pick something?" Callie asked, her eyes still covered by Addison's hand, face turned in the opposite direction of where she was standing with Alex and April._

" _Yes, and now we're finally getting food."_

 _She scoffed at Alex's words, and it was Meredith who said "You picked him."_

 _So they went their separate ways, Callie and her group into the dress shop, and Alex leading the way to a pizza place, but not before drawing another smile from Arizona by whispering "Robbins blue, Kepner green," in Meredith's ear._

 _And she was glad that picked him._

6*

Andrew had a new task from Chief Bailey, and he was going to be successful. He was to train Sofia and Zola to walk down the aisle throwing the rose petals. But they were both incredibly smart little girls, so he wasn't sure why he was doing this, just that she had looked strange when she asked him, so he would do it.

He was incredibly happy to be here. He was the only resident that was exempt from "resident's day" as Chief Bailey had called it, because he was going to the wedding. He didn't even care that he was missing out on surgeries, well he did, but if it meant seeing his _principessa_ and his former roommate happy, then he didn't care. Not really.

When he'd moved in with Dr. Robbins three years ago, he knew that sometimes Sofia would be there, and while he had been hesitant to share his living space with the five year old, he had needed Dr. Robbins then, and so he took her in with open arms. It had been as good a decision as moving in with Dr. Robbins.

He had also only started calling her Arizona when Sofia, in all five year old indignation had said "Her name is momma." And both he and she had laughed at the little girl. He watched and listened as Arizona explained that she was only 'momma' to Sofia, that Andrew was a friend. And while they hadn't explained about bosses and subordinates, the older woman had insisted that he call her Arizona, so he had.

Except for that brief moment when she had been having sex, in their living room, naked, with his sister, it was Dr. Robbins again. He'd known that wouldn't last because his sister was a free spirit and didn't want to be weighed down by commitment or kids. And he was okay with never seeing either of them naked in his living room again.

But over the two and a half years he had lived with Arizona, and off and on with Sofia, he loved them. Even when he'd thought she'd chose Karev over him, he loved her. And when she hugged him, all the times that Arizona had hugged him, she chose him too. Even when she'd moved in with Dr. Torres and taken Sofia with her, she still chose to take care of him.

So he would practise walking down the aisle with Sofia and Zola, and he was happy to do it.

"Uncle Andrew," he also loved that Sofia called him Uncle, it was a nice feeling. "Look what my mommies gave me!"

He knelt in front of the girls, so freaking adorable in their matching flower girl dresses, all gap toothed smiles, and holding hands. He took the proffered basket from Sofia, the little girl not letting go of her best friends hand as she fished for a necklace from under her dress.

" _Ciao piccole principesse, entrambi sembrano molto belli,_ " He said, as the small pendant was held softly by the excited little girl.

It was four entwined hearts, two of soft yellow gold, one of white gold, and another of a dark material that he didn't know what it was.

"What's this, _principessa_?" He asked, looking between the two little girls.

"It's my wedding present. Mommies gave it to me last night at our bach-bach…"

"Bachelorette?" He offered.

"Yes! Party last night. They said it represented our family." Then, as she pointed to the little hearts as he held the small pendant, his heart melted just a little bit more in love with Arizona and Sofia, and now Dr. Torres. "This one is for momma, and this one is for mommy, and this one's for me, and this one is for my daddy. He's in heaven."

The last word was said on a whisper, and he watched as sadness passed over both of the little girls faces. They nodded at each other, and as Sofia took the little pendant back from his hand, they smiled again and Zola said, "With my daddy. Mommy said that they are best friends in heaven and that they are happy we are best friends." Sofia nodded, and he couldn't help but open his arms to both little girls who returned his hug.

He had known that Dr. Sloan and Dr. Shepard were friends, Arizona had said more like brothers, and he couldn't help but think that wherever they were, that if they were together, they would be happy that their daughters were friends.

Pulling away, Andrew handed the basket back to Sofia who took it with another huge smile, "Okay, let's practice this, eh?"

7*

 _Dr. Kim Dawson hadn't anticipated seeing Dr. Robbins and Dr. Torres again. When they had last left her office, she had thought that they had finally reached a place where they might not need her anymore. Which, in hindsight, was a silly thing to think._

 _They were so much better grounded, in themselves, and in each other. They had built their relationship on a much stronger foundation, and had seemed to be doing well._

 _But that was six months ago. And it was fine then, but she couldn't help but think that they were fine now too. Watching them, sit more closely together on the couch than they ever had before, hands clasped tightly together, she could see the worry on their faces. But she wasn't worried. The hand holding, and their posture, said fear and trepidation. But it also said that there was so much more love in the room than ever before._

 _And so she sat, watching them watch each other, care and compassion on their faces, and watching them watch her. Usually she would let these moments continue, letting her patients come to her when they were ready._

 _But she was invested them, as a couple. Not just professionally… but personally. She really should report herself to the board._

 _Then she couldn't take it anymore. "So what's going on?"_

 _It was Dr. Robbins that blurted, "We're getting married again."_

 _And it was only with a tremendous amount of resolve that she was able to keep her face in it's professional mask. But the smile that threatened to escape was matched on their faces._

" _It's crazy, right?" Dr. Torres asked, looking at Dr. Robbins._

 _And the blonde surgeon nodded. "Insane."_

" _Why?" Dr. Dawson asked._

" _Because the last time, we destroyed each other." Dr. Robbins asked, once again, just staring at Dr. Torres. Did she even need to be here for this._

" _We did," Dr. Torres started. "And we're good now, right?" Dr. Robbins nodded. "But we were good last time… we were so good… and then life…"_

" _Life happened." Dr. Robbins finished._

 _They lapsed into silence again, and then Dr. Dawson threw professional caution to the wind._

" _Arizona, Callie… look at me." They both did. "Life happened before you met. Life happened while you were together. Life continued to happen when you were apart. That's what living is. I said it the last time you were here, lots of bad shit happened to you guys when you were together. A lot of it you did to each other. But that's life. That's what happens when you are alive, and living, and whether you are together or apart, life happens." She probably shouldn't have said 'shit.'_

" _But Sofia…" Dr. Robbins trailed off, Dr. Torres nodded fervently beside her, gripping the pale hand in hers more tightly._

" _Life can hurt us. No matter if our parents are married or divorced. From what you've told me, she is a happy and healthy child, and that happened while you were together and apart. Why are you worried about her now?"_

" _Because she's older," Dr. Torres said, "She's old enough now that if this doesn't work… if this falls apart again… she'll have her own heartbreak."_

" _Were you worried about this before you decided to get married again?"_

 _It looked as if a lightbulb had gone off in both of their heads. That they had figured something out. She knew they would._

" _So why does it worry you in marriage, but not a commitment to be together?"_

 _Silence again. For as much as these two could talk and talk and talk, they sure were sitting in silence now. Which is good, it means they were processing and thinking and not reacting. They had grown a lot._

 _Finally, Dr. Robbins turned to Dr. Torres and said. "In the ten years we have known each other, I have known that I was made for you Calliope. Even when we were apart, even when we were divorced, even when I fell out of love with you, there was a small part of me that knew that I was made for you."_

" _Me too." Dr. Torres whispered._

" _And through it all… through the heartbreak, through the good times, through everything… through it all, it always comes back to you. I can't help myself Callie. The only place I want to be is at your side with our daughter. Even when I didn't love you, even when I was falling for another woman, even when I hated you… I wanted you to be there. Even as my friend. As Sofia's mother, as someone who can smile and make everything better."_

" _Me too." Dr. Torres whispered again. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me Arizona. Right after Sofia."_

" _I feel the same way, Calliope."_

 _Dr. Dawson watched as they leaned in for a kiss, finally allowing her smiled to escape._

" _There's always a chance for life to lead to heartbreak. There's also a chance for life to lead to happiness." She said to the two women who were now smiling on her couch, Dr. Robbins' head on Dr. Torres' shoulder, and their hands were still held tight. "For you and for Sofia. There are no guarantees in life, except that it happens. I'm not going to lie to you, and say that if you work hard together that you can make sure it will always be happy, because that would be egregious of me. But I will say this; you will hurt each other again, and you will probably hurt Sofia, and you will inevitably be so mad at each other that you just want to throw things. But again, that is life. If you want this to work, if you are the second kind of people that I think you to be, you will continue to work with each other to make this work. You will fight like hell to make this work, because as you said, you keep coming back to each other."_

" _Remember that through it all, you both said that you loved the other. Remember how you lost yourselves in life. Remember that you can carry the load for the other, remember to let the other help you carry the load. Remember that life happens, and I think that you will remember that love is not an inevitability, love alone is not enough, those were your words Dr. Torres. But also remember that it was love that brought you back here, that it is love that allows you to make the choice to allow the other to love you when you are mad, and frustrated, and scared, and hurting, that you can make the choice to love, to stay and to not run."_

8*

Richard stood before Callie and Arizona, Karev and Kepner behind Arizona, radiant smiles breaking both of their faces, Addison and Meredith looking the same behind Callie, the rest of their friends and family behind them, smiling or crying or both, he couldn't remember feeling more proud in his entire life.

"Hello, and welcome," He began, smiling at the women who had asked him to marry them. "We are gathered here today to witness the union between two of our dearest friends, two of our family. It's been a long road to this point, we all know the story. But here's my story." Catherine winked at him, her words of _speak from your heart_ echoing in his head.

He looked at Callie, "I've had the distinct pleasure of watching Callie grow from nervous resident transfer to an award winning, board member who is double board certified and chief of her department. The first time I met Callie, really met the woman before me, was when I found her squatting in the basement of the hospital and dancing in her underwear." He offered her an affectionate glance as the people gathered around them laughed and her cheeks flushed. "I knew then that I had someone special on my hands. A resident dedicated to medicine, if a little misguided in her living choices. But I wouldn't have it any other way, she has always been a strong woman, a woman who follows her heart but uses her head, a woman who loves a little too much, a woman who cares so deeply, who feels for her patients and her friends so hard, things that make her not just an excellent doctor, but a wonderful human being."

He smiled and watched as she carefully wipe a tear from her eye, and squeezed the fingers that she offered him. He held on for a moment, then released her fingers and turned to Arizona.

"I didn't hire Arizona, she came to Seattle as a fellow, but I'd heard only good things about her. Miranda Bailey told me that Arizona was perky."

"She's a pixie stick." Bailey called from the audience, to laughter from all.

"Hush, Bailey," he said, sending a glare her way.

Turning back to Arizona, he continued, "Bailey was right. She brought her excessive happiness to Seattle, she brought the very best of herself, and she made all of us better. Arizona cries when she confronts authority figures. When Derek Shepard was doing a surgery that I had expressly forbidden him from doing, it was Arizona who stopped me. She stood up to me, not a single tear in her eyes, fighting for Isaac and for Derek. If she could face me without tears in her eyes, with anger at my presence, with fire and determination for what she believed was right, well I knew that she would continue to fight. But don't think for a second that I didn't know you cried on Torres' shoulder as soon as I left Robbins. I was chief, I knew everything."

His eyes moved from the two woman, to their beautiful daughter. She was sitting on her grandma's lap, holding the hands of both of her grandfathers on either side of her, and not a single one of them had a dry eye.

Looking at the rest of the people gathered, he knew this was his family. These people, gathered in this yard, the setting sun behind him casting a warm glow over them all.

"I look at you people, all of you, and I think of how lucky we are to be together. How lucky we are that fate brought us all to this place. How lucky that fate and love and friendship brought these two women together in front of us. How lucky that they've chosen to let us into their lives to share this special moment with us."

He paused for a moment, just to let himself smile some more.

"Callie and Arizona have written their own vows, and they will share them with us and each other now. Callie?"

Richard watched as Callie's smile widened, the way her smile reached her whole body.

"Arizona, I promised you I would never make you a promise again. I'm gonna break that promise now. I promise to love you. I promise to love Sofia. I promise that when love isn't enough, that I will work with you. I promise that even when love isn't enough, that I will continue to love you. I promise that when I am old and wrinkly and cranky, I will still love you. I promise to dance with you at our daughter's wedding, at our grandchildren's weddings. I promise to dance with you until I can't dance anymore, and I will still dance with you. Okay, no more promises. I chose you, Arizona Robbins, to love. To work on love with you for the rest of my life, the rest of our lives. I love you."

Now it was Richard who had to wipe a tear from his eye. "Arizona?"

"Calliope. Loving you is the second greatest privilege of my life. Loving Sofia is, and always will be the first. But I only have one promise to offer you. I promise that when life is hard, when life happens, that I will run towards you. I will run as hard as I can, run as fast as I can, and I will trust you to catch me. I love you."

Now Richard watched as everyone was crying, even Alex Karev.

"Calliope Torres," he had to call her that, because Arizona had said she would hit him if he didnt, and he believed her, "Do you take Arizona Robbins to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do. I do I do I do."

"Arizona Robbins, do you take Calliope Torres to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I absolutely do."

"Exchange your rings," Alex and Meredith handed the rings to their respective bride, and he watched as steady hands placed rings on fingers, and hands clasped tightly.

"By the power vested in my by the State of Washington, it is my pleasure to announce you as wives. You may now kiss your wife!"

And as they kissed, the whole audience erupted into cheers and little Sofia jumped off her grandmother's lap and ran towards her mothers, Richard couldn't remember a more perfect day. Top three after his own weddings.

9*

It was late. Later than it should be, but the party, the part for her and Callie was still going on. But she didn't care, because her wife's arm was around her shoulders, and her head was on her wife's shoulder, and she was happy.

Arizona's gaze flitted down to their daughter, blissfully asleep in her grandfather's arms, her father leaning comfortably back in his chair while her mother had her own head on her husbands shoulder. Carlos, who still kind of frightened her, was nearby, chatting softly with her parents and she was glad that they were getting along, and it wasn't solely for Sofia's benefit.

She'd had her first dance with Callie. And her father. And Carlos. And they had both danced with Sofia. But now everyone was sitting, enjoying the last remnants of dinner and drinks and cake, soft and slow music filling the backyard, quiet conversation reaching her ears, but she didn't hear what anyone was saying.

Turning her head back to Callie, she looked up into the brown eyes she adored. Eyes that contained fire and coffee and chocolate and love, and she melted a little. Leaning up she placed a soft kiss on Callie's lips, the familiar pangs of desire shooting through her.

"Hey wife," Callie whispered, a completely unfamiliar feeling of love shooting through her. Which was strange, because Callie had said the exact same thing at their last wedding, and had said it thousands of times after. Truthfully she had never thought she'd hear those words directed at her again, especially not by the woman whose arms she rested in.

"Mmm, wife." She whispered back, that same unfamiliar feeling shooting through her as Callie smiled down at her, and leaned in for a kiss.

They kissed like that for a minute, wrapped in each others arms, lips moving to a delicate rhythm of love and desire, the hotter emotions staying beneath the surface. That kind of kissing would come later, when they were alone. But not tonight, and not right now. Their plan was to go to their bed tonight, bringing Sofia with them and to sleep as a family. Then tomorrow, The Colonel and her mother would take Sofia for the day and night, spending the night in a hotel away from the house so that she and Callie could be alone. The next day Carlos would do the same with Sofia, giving them two days and nights to be wives.

Though she had secretly been planning, as she knew Callie had, to meet up with their parents and Sofia for dinner so they could spend some time with their baby girl.

She was already kissing Callie when the tinkling of champagne glasses started, but was only roused away from those delicious lips when Alex coughed and cleared his throat. He was standing alone on the dance floor, his tie loosened and a grimace on his face.

Coughing again, he looked at her, and then away before he started speaking, "Uh, hey, I'm Karev. Uh, Alex Karev. I have a promise to keep." Then he looked at Arizona again, a small smile gracing his face. She loved this man. She was so proud of him. "I promised to dance with Kepner at your wedding, so Kepner come here." She watched as April disentangled herself from under Matthew's arm and handed a sleeping Harriet to Jackson. His cheeks reddened as she reached him. "Montgomery, Mer, get out here." She watched as Callie's people joined them.

And then "Perfect" by Ed Sheeran started playing, and Alex took April into his arms and started awkwardly slow dancing with her, and then she started crying. Meredith and Addie shrugged at each other and began dancing with each and then she was propelled out of her seat by a light pressure to her back from Callie.

She tapped April's shoulder and asked "Can I cut in?"

April turned and hugged her, and stepped away from Alex, offering her his hand. She took it, and pulled him roughly into her arms. The dance floor was filling again, and all she could do was cry, her arms around Alex's neck and his arms just as tightly around her waist.

"I love you Alex," she whispered into his chest, pleased when his arms tightened around her waist.

But the moment was cut shorter than she would have liked when the music was cut out and Bailey shouted to yard, "Big bus crash coming in, we gotta go. This is why I kept you fools to two glasses of champagne. Let's go, pile into those cars."

Callie's hand found hers in the sudden chaos, and she gripped it tightly, laughing when the latter women whispered in her ear, "I mean, really, this day was already perfect. Now we can go save lives."


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: This one's M.**

"Happy 17 Hour Anniversary," Callie whispered into Arizona's ear. She had slipped behind her wife, her gorgeous blonde haired wife, and trapped her between the desk and her own body. And even though she was wearing her scrub cap, and her face was scrubbed free of the makeup she had worn at their wedding, she was radiant. Arizona had a natural beauty that was always evident. Free of make up, and in ill fitting scrubs, her white lab coat wrinkled, and in that stupid butterfly scrub cap that she would never admit to loving, Arizona was as gorgeous now as she was the day they had met ten years previously.

"Hmm, yes," Arizona whispered back, her body leaning heavily into Callie's. "Which one is that? Paper? No, that's one year. Gold, maybe?"

"You're funny Robbins." Callie slipped one of her hands from the desk and onto Arizona's waist. If this day had gone like they had planned, they would be naked in bed right now. Sofia's day had gone as planned though, and for that they were both thankful. The Colonel and Barbra had texted her earlier, saying that they had Sofia and would coordinate with Carlos for the breakfast grandchild exchange the next day.

And while it hadn't gone to plan, Callie doubted that either of them would have changed how the day had played out, except for missing their wedding night with their daughter, it truly had been a perfect day.

"Are you busy?" She asked the woman in her arms, pulling the small body tighter into her own.

"Not right now, I have another surgery in an hour. Lots of kids on that bus, and Alex is dealing with something serious."

Checking her watch, she noted the time and said "Come with me." Callie gripped Arizona's hand, and dragged her to the on-call room that was just down the hall from the ORs. Finding no one inside, Callie slipped in, pulling Arizona in behind her.

"We have to be quick, Calliope." Arizona said, already pulling her lab coat off.

"We're not here to have sex Arizona." She said with a laugh, loving the pout that formed on Arizona's face. "Here, sit." She pointed to the couch.

"This has been very misleading for our 17 Hour Anniversary." Arizona pouted again, but her lips quickly formed a smile, making Callie wish they could have sex. "Sex isn't the traditional gift?"

"No, you've been on your leg for almost 40 hours. So you're going to take off your pants, and then you're going to take off your leg, and I am going to massage your leg." Callie pulled her phone out, and quickly sent a text to Meredith, asking if she could bring an ice pack to them, because the cold would help Arizona as well.

Arizona sighed, but finished removing her lab coat, and started removing her pants before she sat down to remove her leg. When she was done, Callie had a different idea and grabbed one of the blankets from the beds, she handed the blanket to Arizona who took it with a quirk of her eyebrow, and Callie quickly scooped the smaller woman into her arms, and turned to sit on the couch herself.

Settling Arizona in her lap, where she could comfortably reach the residual limb with both hands, and spread the blanket over Arizona's lower half. Arizona smiled, and twined her arms around her neck, and Callie felt warmth spread through her as her wife, her gorgeous wife, pressed a hard kiss to her cheek.

"It's too bad you said no sex Calliope," Arizona had husked into her ear, causing Callie's fingers to falter on the residual limb, and her breath to catch in her throat as she continued, "When you handle me like that, when you remind me how strong you are, how adept you are at taking control of my body and doing what you want to it… I could come just thinking about it."

Callie felt the shudder run through her, felt the way hot arousal pooled in both her's and Arizona's cores. She wanted to give in, want to do exactly what Arizona said, wanted to take her body and have her way with it, wanted to make the woman in her arms be the woman beneath her. But she had a time limit, and now fifty minutes wouldn't be nearly enough time to do that. Quick and dirty was always okay with Callie, and obviously Arizona, but she also knew that what they were doing right now would be more beneficial.

A knock sounded at the door, and they both jumped slightly, and when Callie called "come in" her voice croaked like that of a pubescent boy. Which she kind of was when Arizona was pantsless in her arms, even when what she was doing was completely non sexual. Except for those few times that Arizona had made it sexual.

Kind of like she had made it this time.

It wasn't Meredith, but one of the residents whose name she couldn't remember. "Uh, Dr. Torres? Oh crap, sorry, Dr. Robbins I didn't mean to see anything." He had spun quickly, and held the ice pack up over his shoulder. "Dr. Grey asked me to bring this to you. Here. Bring this to you here. I'm sorry."

Callie was about to burst into giggles, but Arizona laughed first. "It's okay, Dr. Schmitt, you can turn around."

Callie did laugh when the young doctor did turn around, but had squeezed his eyes shut.

"Dr. Schmitt, open your eyes, hand Dr. Torres the ice pack, and then go." Arizona said, laughter in her voice still.

"Are you sure Dr. Robbins?"

"Schmitt!" Both she and Arizona said loudly. They both laughed when he squeaked, and did what she had asked, almost stumbling as he ran out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Callie quickly lifted the blanket and placed the ice pack on Arizona's limb, the blonde letting out a soft sigh, the relief evident on her face.

"I'm not saying that you're right Calliope, but this was a good idea." Arizona sighed again, resting her head on Callie's shoulder and tightening her arms around her neck. "This almost beats sex."

Callie laughed, "Almost?"

"Hmm, I mean it's not even close. Not really even in the same lane."

"So I was right?" She teased, removing the ice pack and massaging the area again, relieved that some of the tightness was leaving the muscles there.

"No one said that."

"How about this, we still have forty minutes left before you have to go to your surgery, that's two more increments of ten minutes of ice, why don't we make out a little next time?" She really only needed one hand to hold the ice pack in place, and she really _really_ wanted to make out with her wife.

"Why can't we make out now?" Arizona asked, but she hadn't moved to initiate the make out session, and Callie was sure that Arizona had needed this more than she was letting on in all the teasing.

"Because I need both of my hands for this."

"You make a valid point Dr. Wife." Warmth swelled in Callie's chest.

As soon as she replaced her hands with the ice pack, Callie claimed Arizona's lips with her own and wasted no time in deepening the kiss. This is was the kind of kiss that spoke of the depth of the longing and desire she had for the blonde. As their tongues battled, she could tell that Arizona was letting Callie take the lead. Even though small hands threaded their way through her air, and Callie had slipped one of her hands around Arizona's waist and under her scrub top to splay her hands against a warm back, Arizona was giving up the reigns to Callie.

And she took it glady, loving every second of the moment. Outside of the bedroom, they were equals, in everything they did. With Sofia they made decisions together, planned and coordinated so that they could each have special alone time with her, and did the same so they could have time together as a family.

In the bedroom, they were equals as well, but the roles reversed and switched often, and the way that at any given moment, Arizona could be dominant and aggressive in the bedroom, dragging Callie to completion with rough force, turned her on. Or the way that Callie could do that for Arizona, it was a role that she loved.

But some of her favourite experiences with the blonde, was the way that they could be this way, gently and lovingly walk that path together, embraced with tenderness and compassion.

It was with sadness that she pulled away from the kiss, and resumed her ministrations on Arizona's leg, the blonde settling against her shoulder again with a heavy sigh of contentment.

"You were right, Calliope. I needed this. Not the making out, I always need that. This, being in your arms, kind of, while you massage my stumpy leg."

"Hey, I don't like it when people say that." She actually hated it, hated the jokes she heard on an almost daily basis in her line of work. She recognized that people were making the best of their situation, but it was one joke that had always grated on her nerves.

"Callie," Arizona started, lifting her head from Callie's shoulder, and Callie felt as a warm hand tilted her face so that Callie was looking at her. And she looked happy.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."

"It's okay Callie. Why did you though?"

Callie sighed, "I just don't like those jokes. I don't know. But I have to laugh because every amputee makes them, and they all think they're original. It feels like a cover for sadness."

And the way that Arizona smiled at her, the way that small and pale hand tightened on her chin, filled Callie with so much love that her hands faltered on the limb again.

"Hey, hey Calliope. Is that all this is? This sadness over a bad joke?"

"No. Sometimes… sometimes I still feel guilty for not saving your leg." And she did. Rarely, and never for longer than a moment, but it happened sometimes.

Instead of pulling Arizona in for another kiss when she switched back to the ice pack, she went willingly when Arizona pulled their foreheads together.

"I can't stop that from happening, and I'm sorry for that. I feel like that guilt is my fault. So let me tell you this. It took a long time for me to be comfortable with my body again, with the fact that I am disabled. It took me a long time to even let you, the woman who I knew loved me, to help a little bit. How long did it take after it happened?"

Callie looked into the blue eyes of her wife, and when she found nothing but compassion and love she answered. "216 days." She had counted.

"216 days. Wow." Arizona had looked surprised at that, like she didn't know exactly how long it had been, like Callie did. "And this time around, of us being together, how long did it take?"

"It happened before we started. You let me help you the night before we kissed after Catherine Fox."

"That's right. I'm not sad or mad or uncomfortable anymore, this is who I am. I know I blamed you for a lot longer than 216 days, and I shouldn't have. I should have realized that I much preferred being alive than I preferred to have two legs. But it's been seven years now, and I am comfortable. And I never let you know how much you helped with that, you gave me my life back Calliope, when you saved it by telling Alex to take the leg, and then again when you showed me I was worth loving."

Arizona pressed a soft kiss to her lips, and then reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"I am whole, Calliope. I am happy, and healthy, and alive, and I am whole."

Something inside Callie broke then, and she completely dissolved into tears. She knew this about Arizona, she had known, had always known, those things about Arizona. But she hadn't known that Arizona knew them. And when Arizona just gathered her into her arms and held Callie tightly, and she was mended by Arizona's arms and her love as quickly as she broke.

And though she was still crying, she removed the ice pack from under the blanket, and tossed it away, her stolen hour with her wife slipping between her fingers with whispered confessions. She hadn't intended for this to be what it became, she had wanted to spend this hour happy, fill it with laughter and joy, because their wedding night was stolen from them by careless and drunk drivers. She wanted to make Arizona laugh, and she wanted to laugh with her. Instead Arizona was wiping her tears, and comforting her. And then she did laughed, loudly.

Because this moment with Arizona had been perfect, even though it wasn't what she had wanted. Being here with Arizona, with her wife, having her wife's arms wrapped around her, and making out with her was perfect.

"What?" Arizona laughed with confusion, a smile stretching her cheeks and making those dimples that Callie couldn't get enough of appear. She would probably never get enough of them.

"This has been the best 17 Hour Anniversary of my life," and the sadness of the last twenty minutes was gone.

Arizona snuck a peak at her watch, and grinned lasciviously down at her. "I think that's enough of the massaging." Then she shifted in Callie's lap, effectively straddling her, and Callie moaned into the kiss Arizona gave her.

This time Arizona was in control, and she handled the reigns well. It was still tender and full of love, but the depth of emotion, the passion and the fire and the desire ran much deeper, alighting in Callie a spark of need for the woman in her arms.

But she had surgery now, so reluctantly Callie broke the kiss, and buried her face in Arizona's shoulder so she could catch her breath, her chest heaving while she struggled to push down the desire.

It was Arizona who shifted off of her lap, the loss of weight and warmth doing nothing to quell the desire that wound through all of Callie. She could only watch as Arizona pulled on her silicone sock and reattach her leg. Watch as strong and defined muscles in her right thigh lifted her to standing, stare as a well rounded back side was revealed from under the navy blue scrub top as she bent to retrieve and pull up her pants.

"You have to stop looking at me like that Calliope, because I am this close to locking that door, saying 'screw you' to surgery and begging you to fuck me."

Callie gulped, and swallowed dryly. She wished, for the first time, that they were the kind of people who could say no to their jobs.

"So stop." Callie had the good graces to turn away from Arizona.

She waited until she heard the door opening before she turned back to Arizona, "I'll be about two hours and then Bailey said I'm done. Will you be done?" Callie could only nod, she was looking at Arizona like that again. "Wait for me?" Callie nodded again. "If you go up to the gallery and look at me like that, I guarantee we won't make it past your car in the parking lot, so do not do that. Because when we do have sex for the first time as wives, I'm gonna need some privacy because I don't need the whole hospital hearing me beg."

Callie didn't even get a chance to nod as Arizona turned and left to go to her surgery. She flopped backwards on the couch, fanning her face and breathing deeply. Suddenly her phone buzzed in her pocket, and she fumbled for it.

 _I love it when you look at me like I'm some kind of oasis after you've been wandering in the desert for forty days. I love that I can feel your eyes tear my clothes off and fuck me until I'm begging. -A_

 _DON'T GO TO THE GALLERY. -A_

888*

They were now seven hours into their planned wedding day. When Callie had driven them home from the hospital, it was all Arizona could do not to direct her down every side street or less travelled road, it took almost everything she had to not slip her hand between those thighs, her favourite thighs in the whole world, that we encased in tight denim and calling to her, everything she had not to slip her hand from the knee where it rested up. Higher and higher and higher. Higher until she reached Calliopes centre.

She had watched the way caramel knuckle turned white on the steering wheel, so when she had moved her hand from where it tightly clasped a knee, it wasn't higher up thighs that had been sculpted by some sort of cosmic artist, it was to remove her wife's hand from the steering wheel and take it into her own.

Arizona had wanted, _desperately wanted_ , to place that talented and magical hand high on her own thigh, had practically needed to beg Callie to slip her fingers under her now wrinkled wedding dress, and fuck her as she drove them home.

But she was a lady.

A lady didn't initiate sex in the car when her wife was driving them home so they could have sex in ten minutes anyway.

Like the first time they had sex when they got back together, almost six months ago, Callie had been able to make Arizona come in less than a minute. But this time the door she'd been pressed against was their own, this time she had screamed Calliope's name (sort of, it came out more as _Cal - Cal - Cal_ and then _-pe_ , she'd lost the middle of her name somewhere between the the car and the inside of the door), this time it was those very same fingers she'd wanted in the car, pushed into her roughly and fumbling and anything but gentle. Like that first time, her leg had remained on, but this time it couldn't reach the floor because Calliope had used that strength that was Arizona's greatest weakness when Calliope was like this, and held her _entire_ body up while she fucked her. So it had just kind of hung there, useless, and swaying and knocking against the door like some sort of weird drum circle beat. It was kind of erotic.

And they had used the past seven hours well. Arizona had an insatiable need for Calliope. It had always been this way. When they were together, and a couple of times when they had been apart, she had always needed Callie. And not just in the way of sex, though there was always that too, simmering just under the surface of gentler and more tender touches, but in the way that when they passed each other on busy days, and all she could get because they were passing like ships in the night, was a quick meeting of fingers, it would buoy her up. Or when they were out in public eating or sitting, she'd turn her knees into Callie's so some part of her was touching.

And that thought gave her pause. They were lying together on the floor in front of the fireplace. Callie had asked someone, she didn't know who and she honestly didn't care because whoever it was had done it, to make a makeshift bed on the floor. And it was a mess and jumble of blankets and cushions before they got it, and it was worse now that'd they'd been in it. But it was comfortable, and warm, and Calliope was there so it was perfect.

Her leg had been tossed uncaringly onto the couch, and as she looked at it now, upside down and it's shoe hanging slightly off, she had realized something else she loved about Calliope. If this had been before, she would have scrambled for a piece of paper and thrown it into the jar, but it was after and now she got the chance to say it. To her wife. Her hot and gorgeous wife.

"I love how after the crash, when we started going out in public again, you always sat on my right side so that when I turned my knee into you, I could still feel you." They were lying together, exposed and naked, in that pile of blankets and pillows, Callie cushioned on her stomach, one of her hands massaging the residual limb.

"Hmm?" Was the only reply she got.

"Calliope." She said it with intention behind it, to get her wife's attention. And when that gloriously tangled mess of raven hair lifted, and those brown eyes met hers, and those exquisitely kiss swollen and plump lips tilted into a lazy smile, her heart stumbled and missed a beat.

"I am so in love with you Calliope."

And that smile, that lazy and easy smile, ticked up a notch and her heart stumbled again.

And suddenly Callie was kissing her again, fiercely and deeply, and all she could do was whimper in response.

Callie's hands floated down her body, her touch rough and gentle, fingers gliding over her skin reverently, warm lips and tongue following lazily behind. And Arizona knew that she would be begging again. Callie had made her beg, twice, in the last seven hours, had made her come four times, and she knew that she was heading for a fifth time, and that even though Callie's intentions were clear, as she kissed and sucked a path down her body, she would be begging again.

Somewhere around her belly button, when the lips and teeth and tongue of her wife were driving her absolutely insane with need, and honestly how could she not beg at this point, she did beg, she pleaded to her wife, her whisper filling the air with desperation, "Calliope, please."

It was a benediction. A prayer to the goddess that was Calliope Torres. A hurried prayer.

And then it was there, right where she needed it to be, that hot and wet and talented mouth was on her like an answered prayer. And she was full with the feeling of Callie's tongue pumping into and out of her soaked core, her lips sucking lightly, teeth nipping lightly to her clit and she needed more contact.

Not there, because Callie was good at that. Really good. Like _really really, able to move mountains good_ at that.

"Hand, hand, give me your hand," and though the pleading could have been interpreted another way, with the way her hips were trying to buck into that mouth, with the way her breath was catching and struggling, it wasn't. Because Callie had known what she was asking, sliding her hand up Arizona's body, and offering it, fingers splayed.

Arizona grasped it quickly, twining their fingers and gripping tightly as Callie's mouth worked against her. She held their clasped hands between her breasts, brought her right knee up and opened herself do that Callie could have more room to work her magic.

She whimpered again, the sound pulled from her unwillingly when Callie's right hand lifted her residual left leg onto a warm shoulder, and that same hand pressed down tightly against her pubic bone to still and soften the wild movement of her hips.

"I can't, Cal, please…"

She had her eyes closed tightly, to focus on the way that Callie's hand in hers gripped as tightly as she was, focus on that mouth against her, focus on the way raven hair tickled her thighs and stomach, the sensation heightened to epic proportions of eroticism, focus on her wife.

But then her wife said "Look at me," and it was a struggle to open her eyes, to lift her head, to even attempt to move when attempting to move felt like it may wake her up from a dream. But this wasn't a dream, it was a dream come true, the woman between her legs was her wife, was the mother of her child, and she was so much more than Arizona had ever dreamed of, that she did what Calliope asked.

And when she did, when she met those gorgeous brown eyes just over their clasped hands and her bouncing breasts, two talented fingers were thrust into her, and while her eyes closed in ecstacy for just a second, they were withdrawn.

"Callie," she begged again.

"I want you to watch me make you come." Well how could she deny that.

She couldn't, so with everything that she had left that wasn't focused on the hand in her own, or the mouth that was on her, or the fingers that she needed back inside of her, she wrenched her eyes opened and met those of her wife. And all she saw was love, and those fingers were moving within her again, and those lips were wrapped tightly around her clit, sucking and moving and driving her.

Of its own volition, her leg wrapped around Callie's back, heel digging in as her orgasam built under the wickedly talented mouth and fingers of her wife.

"Call…. Calliope…" she groaned, ensuring that her eyes never left the eyes of her wife, trying desperately to give Callie what she wanted. Because that's all she'd wanted really, was Callie to be happy. "I'm com- god… Callie… I'm coming."

And it was after a slight nod from her wife that her eyes slid closed, and her back arched, and her orgasam rushed through her and even out from her, flowing in waves from the fingers inside her and the lips around her, and the bone crushingly tight way that fingers gripped her own.

When she did come down, Callie had made her way back up to Arizona, and they were laying on their sides facing each other, Callie's hand still in hers clasped tightly between her heaving breasts.

Even though she was struggling to breathe, her breath hitched again when her eyes finally opened and the look of love and adoration on Callie's face.

"I love you," she panted, leaning forward to press a soft kiss to Callie's lips, and when she tasted herself there, she moaned a little.

"I love you too Arizona," Callie said against her lips.

Long moments later, Arizona pulled back so she could stare at her wife. "You're my wife." She heard the way her own voice sounded surprised.

Loved the way Callie's eyebrow quirked up in laughter and amusement. "Yes. And you're mine."

"I don't know what I like better; that you're my wife, or that I'm yours." She said, finally able to just look into the depths of Callie's eyes. It was a lot easier when she wasn't being made love to.

"You have the rest of your life to figure it out." Callie's words pulled a smiled from Arizona, and she couldn't help but lean in for another kiss.

Somewhere behind them, one of their phones rang. Callie extracted herself from Arizona's arms, and she watched the caramel skinned goddess walk unabashedly naked through the living room. Watch as fingers tried in vain to tame wild curls. Finally Callie had found the phone that was ringing, it was hers, and she said "It's your mother."

She nodded, and rolled on to her back, waiting for Callie to come back to her.

"Hey Barbara. Yes, no sorry, hey mom. Yes, I will. I promise, _mom_. I thought dinner was in two hours? Yes no, we can come now. Same place? Okay, see you soon. Bye mom."

Arizona had listened to the conversation with a smile on her face.

"Your mother has said that I am to call her mom. That no, I don't get a say in the matter. Also that they've decided to go see a movie after dinner, so we have to go now so Sofia isn't up too late."

Callie, still naked, still breathtakingly stunning, and still gloriously and miraculously naked, handed Arizona her leg and the sock. And it was a terrible shame that she had to look away from her naked wife to put on her leg, because naked Calliope Torres was a work of art.

When the leg was attached, Callie's dark hands reached for her and Arizona didn't hesitate to allow those strong and deliciously talented hands to lift her to a standing position, and allowed them to propel her into those arms where she belonged.

"We have 20 minutes to shower and get dressed, so no funny business Mrs. Robbins." Callie said, with a light slap to her ass, which really, if she wanted no funny business that wasn't the way to do it.

Arizona pulled away from Callie and turned to walk down the hall towards their bedroom.

Callie, following close behind her said "When you're walking around all naked with that leg, god, you're beautiful."

She looked over her shoulder at Callie and replied, "It's not even the heel leg… it's all carbon fibre and black?"

"It's hot. I mean, like… you're hot cause you're naked, and I love it when you're naked, but it gives you this look… like if you weren't naked and you were wearing clothes I'd have to rip them off." Arizona could hear the truth of the words, could hear the sincerity in Callie's voice as they stepped into the shower.

The showered in silence for a few minutes, and as they stood facing each other, thankful for waterproof prosthetics, Arizona allowed her eyes to slide shut as Callie washed her hair.

"I love you Mrs. Calliope Torres," she whispered.

And after Callie gave her a tender kiss, they finished showering together and getting dressed together, they went to have dinner with their daughter together, hand in hand and more in love with each other than they could ever remember being.


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: I just wanted to say thanks for all the reviews and PM's. TBH, I didn't really know where I was going when I started this. I had a bunch of ideas, and I have a bunch more. But you guys and gals are super swell.**

The moments they were able to steal in the hospital were some of Arizona's favourite moments with Callie. The moments when they were in their home and with their daughter were amazing and magical and absolutely all of her favourite moments, in fact if she had to rank them instead of letting her life with her wife and child swirl around her in a mass of happiness, Sofia and Calliope together would command the top thousand, million moments of her life.

But these moments, when it was just the two of them in a quiet hallway, sheltered in each other's arms after a hard day of loss and heartbreak, were very next on the list.

Something about these halls were hallowed. The lives they've saved, and lost, here. The way that the people who worked in this hospital were more family sometimes than their actual families, the way that you could catch a glance of your friends or loved patients and know that things are the way that they're supposed to be. The way that even though you've had your heartbroken so many times by this place, you can find a smile around the corner. The way that even though you nearly lost your wife and your child and your best friend and your friend, and the way that you almost lost your own life, and did actually lose your leg, but somehow the antiseptic smell and walls was still your home.

And part of what made it home for Arizona was the woman she rested against. When she'd come to Seattle for her fellowship, she hadn't been prepared for Seattle Grace Mercy West or the other people that called it home. She had come expecting a place to work and to grow her career, and she had found it, but it had offered her so much more. Friends, a family, a place where she could grow her career and find a place where she could excel professionally and be respected for that, loved for that. But it had also given her Calliope, and even in her wildest dreams, the ones she kept secret, she would never have anticipated Calliope Torres.

She hadn't expected any of them, not really, but Callie… she would take the heartbreak and the pain and the anguish a thousand times over if she could have Callie every time. And the fact that this place, and these halls, and these people had given her Callie not just once, but twice? Well somehow she believed in miracles.

Today hadn't even been a particularly trying day. No one had died unexpectedly, patients or friends. No one had a life threatening emergency to rush to. No one was heartbroken or sad or upset or angry. It had been a quiet day. A soft day. A day when routine surgeries were done, and were successful. A day when the residents and interns knew everything they were supposed to know during rounds, and did a good job. A day when patients were happy and smiling, even through their pain.

But she still sought out her wife for this stolen moment, because even though today had been a good day, a great day even, sitting with Calliope in the quiet corridor while the rain pelted the windows, and the distant hum of machine's, and the feel of Callie's strong and steady heartbeat pumped warmth into her fingertips from where they rested on her wife's neck, the warmth of being enveloped and enveloping her wife, well it just made everything so much better.

"What are you thinking about?" Callie whispered, practically in her ear. And while normally that kind of action from her wife would cause arousal to pool low in her belly, _and it kind of did this time too_ , it filled her with warmth and affection and love and so much goodness, that she felt the smile jump to her face.

"You," she whispered back after a moment, turning to nuzzle her nose against Callie's cheek. Inhaling the scent of her wife. All spicy and citrusy and hospitally and safe and familiar and nostalgic.

"Mmm." Was all she got in response, and it was so quiet that she felt it more than heard it.

"I was thinking about the decisions that lead me to this moment. How I wouldn't change anything. Well… maybe a few things." But no, nothing really. Even the bad things. Like the shooting made her realize how much she loved Callie, how Callie's happiness and her desire just to see her smile and happy, how much those things mattered to her. And Africa, because then they wouldn't have Sofia. A thousand moments of heartbreak and loss gave her the two best things in her life, and she wouldn't change anything.

"I'd change some things," Callie whispered back.

"Hmm, what would you change?"

"I'd like more closet space for ortho." Callie said with a laugh, which Arizona couldn't help but join in with. "More hardware is always a good thing."

"Hmm, yeah. I'd like a new camera to film my surgeries." She replied.

"Why?" Callie asked.

"When I was training with Dr. Herman all I had to go on was notes. While I am excellent at my job, I think that being able to see some of these procedures would be beneficial. I can write all the papers I want, and I can describe everything I do and every decision I make, but visualizing it would be excellent for teaching." And it would be.

"Well, as a member of the board, I will vote 'yes' if you submit that request, Dr. Robbins." Callie laughed, her warmth breath blowing against her cheek, warming Arizona.

"Thank you Dr. Torres."

"Why now though?"

"Oh, I've always filmed them. And I've got Addison filming hers. And Hendricks and Giles in New York. There's about eleven of us doing it now. It's an exclusive speciality, which always seemed a bit pretentious to me, and though it isn't without reason it makes sense to me that if we had more fetal surgeons then we can save more babies." And she had thought that, for a very long time.

"Why does it seem pretentious?"

"Well all surgeons are a bit pretentious, don't you think? We all think we're better than regular people, we think we're smarter and always right. That our specialties are the most important. And you know, we're not wrong in thinking that either. We're all important in some way, we all save lives. But with fetal surgery, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you get into it after you've established yourself, usually in peds or OB, so now not only are you all gung ho about your original specialty, but you have this other speciality to brag about."

"I mean, not everybody is double-board certified." Callie said, and Arizona could feel the smirk against her cheek.

"Says the person who is going to go take the boards for her third certification." And she was so proud of Callie for that, for working hard with sports medicine surgeons around the whole country to make that work. GSM didn't have a sports medicine surgical program, but if Callie got certified, she would be able to bring another teaching capacity to the hospital. They'd gone up in teaching ranks after she came back, they had been third and then twelfth, and through the work of Richard and all of the attendings, they had made it back to fourth. When Callie had come back, the next round of evaluation for teaching hospitals came out and they were third again.

"Hey, I'm only doing it for the money!" Which Arizona knew full well was a lie, or at least a deflection.

"Sure, Calliope. Maybe once you've signed the contract and are getting paid the big money, I can retire and become a trophy wife." Which they both knew she'd never do.

"You already are a trophy wife." Goddammit, Calliope, always whispering the sweet nothings in her ear, ruining the playful banter, making everything better. No one had ever made her feel as loved as Callie when she whispered in her ear.

So instead of teasing back, Arizona pulled her wife in for a kiss. She kept it soft and sweet, tender and full of love, and all of the things she put into the kiss, she felt right back. It was moments like these, a stolen kiss in a deserted hallway, that she could never regret a single moment from the last ten years. Would never want to.

"Anyway, we're filming them now because Addison and I have a plan, well it's more of a hairbrained drunk scheme really, but a plan to approach the F.A.C.S. to make maternal-fetal it's own specialties. A lot of the skills needed, like micro surgery, are transferable from neuro or plastics, and if we can start training as residents, then maybe there wouldn't only be 15 of us. We could have one in every hospital."

"Like your OB crash cart?"

"Yeah, I mean, that's the hope anyway."

This time it was Callie who kissed her, and it was the same sweet and tender moment from earlier.

But they were broken apart from the gruff voice of Alex, and the accompanying laughter of Meredith, "Gross, get a room."

"Hush, Karev. We were alone until you came along." Though her tone was harsh, Arizona could hear the affection in Callie's voice. And though Alex had climbed up on the gurney beside her, and Meredith did the same beside Callie, she couldn't bring herself to move from her position almost in Callie's lap.

"I mean, technically I'm your boss Robbins," Alex started with a laugh that all of them shared, "So when I tell you to get a room, really you should listen."

And just as she was about to respond, Meredith said, "You may be her boss in the way that she is an attending in peds and you're the chief. But she's a chief too, and an attending, and she owns the hospital, so really she's your boss."

"Thanks, Meredith." Arizona laughed at the look on Alex's face as she reached across Callie and patted her hand.

"No but really, you two should get a room." Meredith finished, and Callie and Alex both laughed.

"We've all been hanging out with Bailey too much." Callie laughed again.

"How many times do you think 'Booty Call Bailey' has had sex in the hospital?" Alex pondered, and really Arizona was thinking the same thing. She could tell that they all probably were.

"Probably not as much as any of us." Meredith said, and Arizona felt Alex tense slightly beside her, all of them probably remembering that the room where Callie and Alex had had sex was just down the hall from where they were currently sitting. She had threatened him with a brick the last time this had come up, and while parts of her still felt that way, his words from that threat _dude, that was like, years ago_ , rang true.

So she slipped her hand behind her and patted his knee, pleased to feel him relax a bit. Besides, it had been the same way that Callie had felt when she'd learned of all the people Arizona had slept with in the hospital.

So hallowed these halls might be, a lot of sex happened in them.

Sliding her hand back to her wife's stomach, she felt Callie's smile against her forehead, and she nuzzled in closer to her wife. The four of them sitting together in silence filled Arizona with a different kind of warmth, reminding her that though the four of them had their ups and downs, together and apart, they could still be here together, all happy and smiling.

"Hey, when's your meeting with the NHL guys?" Meredith broke the silence.

"Uhh, the Monday after the boards. They wanted it to be sooner, but since I'll know whether I passed by the time I get home, I figured it's a good bargaining chip going in." Callie said.

"Is that why you asked me to take your surgery on Monday?" Alex asked, poking her in the arm.

She swatted his hand away, and snuggled closer to Callie, "Yes, and thank you Dr. Karev, you're such a nice and kind and generous boss." Callie and Meredith laughed at her words.

Just then, Alex's pager beeped and after a quick glance, he got up to leave, but he said "I hate all of you."

Meredith threw back, "No you don't! You love us." Their only response was a dismissive wave over his shoulder as he turned the corner out of sight. "Do you think that's the closest we'll get to him ever admitting that he actually enjoys any of our company?"

Callie and Arizona both laughed at that, "I've known that guy for ten years, he was my best man, my kid calls him Uncle Alex, and I don't think he's ever once called me 'Arizona.'" She said still laughing. Even at her wedding, and all the help planning he had done, he still called her Robbins. At least he'd dropped the doctor.

"He's so weird." Meredith said. And they all laughed again.

After a minute of silence between them, Callie's voice broke the silence. "Okay Mer, it's time for you to go too. I only have ten minutes left with my wife, and I plan to make the most of them, so leave. Please."

With a laugh, Meredith got up from the gurney and smiled fondly back at them, "Alex is right, you guys are gross and you need to get a room." And with that she was gone.

It didn't take Callie a second more to pull Arizona in for another kiss, this time all sweet and tenderness gone, passion and desire filling her quicker with Callie's lips on hers, Callie's hands in her hair and on her skin.

888*

It was a glorious sunny Sunday afternoon, and Arizona had the day off. She wasn't even on call today, which was amazing. Though if one of her patients had something go wrong, everyone knew she would go in. But it had been almost the whole day that she'd been able to spend with Sofia, and she had loved every second of it. Calliope was due hom later this evening, after Sofia's bed time, and since she'd been gone the whole weekend to take the boards, _again_ , she was very excited for her wife to come home.

They'd facetimed last night, with Sofia, mostly it was Sofia and Callie while Arizona stood off to the side and watched, but she'd been able to catch a glimpse of Callie when Sofia managed to stay still. Which wasn't often, their exuberant eight year old had danced about the living room while she talked to her mommy, and didn't listen to either of them when she had been told to slow down, but neither of them had really cared.

They had talked for a brief few minutes, which was never enough time, before Callie had to Torres Method herself into studying some more before day two. Arizona had gotten a _Morning :)_ in response to her own good morning text, but she knew that Callie needed focus to do her things.

But it was late afternoon now, and while Sofia was reading in her room, Arizona decided that she would take some time and do a deep clean of the kitchen. While this was normally Callie's domain in their house, she could clean it up to her wife's standards. It had taken a couple of times to learn how she liked it done, but Arizona was nothing if not persistent. Also she'd asked Callie like a thousand questions about "the right way" to clean the kitchen properly, and she'd also listened intently while Callie lovingly, if not a little bit annoyed, answered all of them.

With her head in the oven to reach those pesky corners, her phone pinged with an incoming text behind her on the counter, and she smiled when she saw that it was Callie. _Dr. Wife_ flashing on the screen above a picture of the three of them from their wedding.

 _Let Sofia get the door. -C_

Confused, she looked down the hall to their door, but she didn't have to wait in confusion for long as the doorbell rang.

"Sof," she called down the other hall towards her daughter's room, "There's someone at the door for you."

From this distance she could hear Sofia give a long suffering sigh as she shuffled out of her room. It was kind of adorable the way that Sofia huffed in annoyance the exact same way that Callie did, and while she wanted to remind the little girl about manners, she couldn't bring herself to as Sofia opened the door.

"Abuelo!" Suddenly the annoyed huff was gone as Sofia launched herself into her grandfather's arms. Then, before Carlos was able to even get a word in, Sofia's scream of joy, "Mommy!" and he'd had to let his squirmy granddaughter down.

Having hurried quickly to the door, she was surprised to see that Callie was indeed home, several hours earlier than she had expected. She gave Carlos a perfunctory hug, because honestly she was still kind of scared of him, and even though the hug they'd shared at the wedding two weeks ago was real and warm, Arizona suspected that it was slightly more for Callie and Sofia's benefit than either of them. His stern words of " _You convinced me to accept my daughter and that brought her back into my life and I'll always be thankful for that, but don't think you're off the hook for breaking her heart"_ and though it was a wedding he was at, her wedding in fact, he scared her.

But then he stepped back from her and to the side quickly and waved lightly to Callie who was still holding Sofia, and she was able to step into Callie's open arm and hug both of her girls. The feeling of being able to hold both of them like this, in their home, as wives and married parents to their beautiful daughter was something she still couldn't believe was happening again. For years she'd dreamed this would happen, on those days when they'd drop Sofia off or pick her up from the others house, the thought would pass briefly once Callie was in New York with Sofia, and she had resigned herself to them being friends.

And then she'd kissed Callie, or Callie had kissed her, _but that part wasn't important, the who kissed who_ , and then it had burst amazingly into her mind and her heart, the explosion of emotion of having both of them back was enough to knock her off her feet.

Arizona hadn't realized how long the three of them had stood like that, arms wrapped around each other and quiet, but obviously it had been longer than the _still not long enough_ it had felt like, when she was brought out of her dream by Carlos clearing his throat.

Feeling her cheeks redden, because of the fear, Sofia squirmed down from Callie's arm quickly and rushed back to her Abuelo, already dragging him back into the house to play with her.

Arizona stepped inside to hold the door open while Callie grabbed her bag and brought it inside. Once it was deposited swiftly on the floor and the door was shut, she took Callie into her arms and leant up to kiss her as Callie's arms wrapped around her waist.

Mindful of Carlos and Sofia in the house, Arizona kept it chaste and pulled away much sooner than she would have liked. Callie let out a contented sigh and rested their foreheads together, neither of them stepping away from the embrace.

"I missed you," Arizona whispered. The warm breaths leaving Callie ghosting over her lips and spreading warmth of a different kind.

"I've only been gone for like, 50 hours." Callie whispered back affectionately.

"That's 51 too long."

"You're ridiculous. And adorable." Callie moved to kiss her again, still as chaste as their first, but Arizona couldn't stop the slight whimper that escape her. "And I missed you too."

"Why are you home so early?" She asked, still not making to move away from the warm body in her arms. The happy voices of her daughter and her father-in-law floating wistfully down from Sofia's room.

"I'd just finished my last session, and I was about to call you to let you know, but I saw dad, the exams were held at the Archfield, apparently he was there on business and when I told him how late my flight was, he offered to reroute to Seattle to bring me home early."

"Thank you, Carlos." She whispered back.

Callie simply hummed in response, and bent to kiss her again. _Really, thank you so much, for everything._

888*

Her dad wasn't able to stay for the night, but he'd been able to stay for dinner and to play with Sofia for a couple hours, and Callie was so thankful that he was in her life again. The trust fund was nice, as was the access to the private jet when all she wanted to do was get home to her wife and daughter, but it was moments where Sofia got to practise her Spanish with him, and talk and laugh with him, that made her forever thankful. She didn't know what had prompted his return to her life all those years ago, but she was still thankful.

Having just finished putting Sofia to bed, she returned to the living room to say goodbye, but pulled up short when she heard whispered conversation happening between Arizona and her dad.

"And I get that you were hesitant, Carlos, but I still love your daughter. And I love your _nieta_ , my daughter." Arizona whispered. Callie could tell that they were both pacing, and she was dying to get a look at the scene, but this seemed to be a moment for the two of them.

She should also probably leave, neither of them needed her protection from the other, but she was curious.

"How do I know you won't break her heart again? Their hearts?" And still she didn't move, even though her dad was using his 'do what I say' voice.

"Believe me, I don't want to. I'm trying very hard not to."

"What's different about this time? Are you not a good man in a storm still, or was that a lie?"

Arizona let loose a sigh so filled with pain that Callie almost stepped into the living room. But when Arizona started speaking again, her voice was calm and controlled. "I am, now. But then… with everything? No, I wasn't. I was lost, you know. I lost my way."

"And cheating on your wife, that was how you found your way?"

"No." Was all Arizona said.

"Was she not good enough for you?"

"It's not like that-"

"What is it like then, Arizona? When you gave me that speech nine years ago, I believed you when you told me that you protected the things you love, that she doesn't need my protection, but I was wrong." _What speech? What was he talking about?_

"Calliope is still who you raised her to be. After my accident, she was patient and kind and helpful and honourable and so good, it was me that was broken. I got lost in my own storm, and I couldn't find my way out. And Callie, she was trying so hard, and I didn't see it. I was awful to her, just… awful. And yet she tried and she kept trying… and I lost sight of her. I lost sight of myself, and I hated myself, here I was hating myself, hating who I was, and I thought if I don't even like myself a little bit, how can this amazing woman still love me, how can she stand to be with me."

Callie knew all of this already, they had talked about this already, minus the speech that Arizona had apparently given her father, but the rest of it? They had this conversation, they had shed these tears already. She didn't think that Arizona needed to defend herself to her father, that Carlos should accept her choice, but that hadn't worked out well in the past.

When Arizona continued speaking, Callie knew that this conversation wasn't for her, it was for Arizona and it was for Carlos.

"And I made a mistake. A big one, granted, it was the worst mistake I'll ever make, but I promise you, I won't make it again."

"I cheated on Lucia, did Calliope tell you that?"

"She did," was Arizona's response.

"Look, Arizona, it wasn't my intention to come here to accuse you-"

"I get it, Carlos. If this were Sofia and I was in front of someone who broke her heart multiple times, well I wouldn't be as scary as you probably, but I would be asking the same questions." Arizona's tone had changed, while she hadn't exactly been defient before, she'd been strong and resilient under her father's scrutiny, now her tone was almost light.

Carlos too had softened, so Callie decided to make her presence known. Before rounding the corner she called loud enough that they would know she was there but soft enough not to wake Sofia down the hall. "Hey guys."

They both jumped a bit at her presence, and if she hadn't overheard their conversation she would have laughed at the way their cheeks flushed and the way they both looked at her with guilty looks on their faces.

"What's going on here?" She asked, hoping her tone didn't give away her voyeuristic past.

"Nothing!" They said at the same time.

Without hesitation, Callie moved to Arizona and took her hand. Her wife let out a little sigh and leaned in to bump their shoulders together, and her father let out a small smile.

"Well, _mija,_ I should be off. It was a pleasant surprise to spend the day with you and your family, but I have a meeting in Vancouver tomorrow that I need to get to." Carlos said, walking over.

"I'm sorry if we made you late, daddy, but it was nice seeing you." She said, using her free hand to pull him into a hug.

"Yes, Sofia loves getting to spend time with you Carlos." Arizona added, and also accepted his hug when he moved away from her.

"She is my favourite person in the entire world," and Callie could see the genuine affection on his face. She was glad that he was here.

"I'm right here daddy!" She said in mock protest, but she also agreed with him.

"Yes well, a father isn't supposed to play favourites, but a grandfather can do what he wants." Carlos teased back, the three of them moving towards the door. Callie still hadn't let go of Arizona's hand, and she wasn't sure she ever wanted to.

After their goodbyes were said, she and Arizona retired to the couch in the living room, glasses of wine in hand, the two of them cuddled under the blanket in front of the fireplace.

"So… I was listening as my father interrogated you," She began after a while, her arm still around Arizona's shoulders, a mess of blonde waves tucked into her chin, Arizona's right knee propped up between them.

"Mmm," Arizona hummed in response, and Callie felt her heart rate tick up a notch as she pressed a soft skin to her clavicle. "It wasn't an interrogation so much as like… a conversation."

"An angry conversation."

"No one was angry, Calliope." Still when Arizona called her that, it felt right. She still hated her name, it was pretentious and art majory, and she still hated that her parents called her that but she had to let them because they were her parents - well her father at any rate. But when Arizona said it, it sounded like music she could listen to for the rest of her life.

"What did he mean about a conversation nine years ago?" She asked, because that was really all she cared about.

But she felt Arizona's face burn against her shoulder, and she couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Umm… nothing?"

"Doesn't sound like nothing." She teased back, bringing her hand up to to turn Arizona's blushing face towards her.

"So I maybe, and I'll deny it if you ask me outright, maybe I told your father that I loved you before I told you." Callie felt her eyes widen in surprise, that is not what she'd been expecting.

"What! He's standing there all scary and you're crying and I hate when you cry, and he was just standing there and I gave him this speech and it was like, I'm named after a battleship not a state and he looks at me all weird like I'm crazy, and then it just came out… 'I love your daughter,' and he's just looking at me and then not looking at me."

"You told him you loved me before you told me?" She asked, tightening her grip on that smooth cheek, forcing her wife to look at her in jest.

"No one said that Calliope."

"You did! You just said it!" And she was falling more in love with Arizona, the way that she was trying not to look at her, but the way her blue eyes, those blue eyes that she could stare into for the rest of her life, would flit back to her for a second and then look away again. Nervous and embarrassed Arizona was adorable.

"Shut up."

Then she pulled Arizona closer so that she could kiss her.

"When did you know you loved me, that first time? When did you fall in love with me?" Callie asked after she broke the kiss, but she didn't move far away, she turned to rest her forehead on Arizona's cheek, loving the way that her wife sighed into the embrace.

"After Alex and Izzie's wedding. We were naked in your bed, and there was pizza and beer, and you were naked, and I knew I could stay there for the rest of my life. When did you know?"

"Honestly? When you found me in the chapel."

"Oh, that wasn't me. I mean, yes I did go to you in the chapel, but I couldn't find you anywhere and I had to ask Mark where you might be."

"Yeah, but you came. You don't believe in God or praying or any of that stuff, but you came anyway and asked if I was praying, and you didn't judge me for wishing her dead. You were there."

Callie leaned in for a kiss again, this time pulling Arizona into her lap to deepen her affections, Arizona's lips and mouth sliding open for her immediately. She couldn't get enough. After several long moments when hands were in hair and under shirts, gripping tightly to hot flesh and pulling bodies tightly to one another, Callie pulled back. Arizona looked dazed, her normally bright eyes darkened with lust, hair perfectly tousled and her shirt half off. Somehow her brad had also been undone, and as Arizona sat in her lap, slim hips still slowly grinding down into her own, half exposed because her shirt hung only off her left arm and breasts exposed with her bra having slid halfway down her arms, Callie almost couldn't comprehend how she still needed to devour this woman every time she was in her arms.

She was insatiable. And even though she was painfully aroused having been gone for the last two days, she had always been like this.

"God you're beautiful," she whispered into Arizona's breasts. She felt and heard more than saw as Arizona stood from her lap, she opened her eyes then, sad that the contact was gone, but was immediately thankful that she had opened her eyes because her wife, her absolutely gorgeous and amazing wife, was looking down at her all sultry and salacious as she removed her clothes.

Pale hands stripped a pale body bare, and Callie felt her heart skip and then burst into a thunderous beat as Arizona moved those hands, those magical and talented hands moved to her own shirt, and Callie couldn't even help as her own shirt was pulled off. Couldn't help but stare as Arizona straightened to remove her pants, and underwear, and gestured to her own. Pushed into action, without getting off the couch, Callie pushed and struggled to get herself as naked as her gloriously naked wife stood before her.

When she was naked she leaned back into the cushions and just stared for a long minute, watching the flush of arousal make its way up Arizona's chest and neck.

"Lean forward," Arizona whispered, and like the siren call it was, Callie had to obey.

Delicate hands rested on her shoulders and Arizona whispered again, sending jolts of arousal all through Callie's body, "Take off my leg."

Callie did as she was commanded, taking the weight of Arizona balancing against her shoulders, once the leg was discarded, not as carefully as it should be but honestly Callie didn't care right now, the smell of Arizona and sex in the warm air surrounding her and filling her, Callie moved her hands back to slim and milky hips, to bring Arizona back into her lap.

"Make love to me Calliope," and Callie knew that she wouldn't make her wife beg this time. Couldn't do it, because she wanted this. Wanted to make Arizona come undone in her arms, wanted to feel the way Arizona shattered, wanted to make Arizona shatter, and wanted to hold her together while she did so.

So she brought their lips together in a bruising kiss, pouring every ounce of that want into her ministrations. She moved her hands from the outside of hips and brought them to a hot and wet core, wasting no time in dragging her fingers through wetness and damp curls, feeling the way that Arizona's thighs tightened against hers.

As Arizona moaned, her their lips fell apart and her back straightened, bringing pert and perky and hard nipples on the most perfect breasts to ever exist in front of her face. And as Arizona continued to moan softly into the air, Callie brought her mouth to one of them as she slipped two fingers into her wife, the whimper that left Arizona caused a flush of arousal to shoot through Callie.

She kept her ministrations slow and languid, the movement of Arizona's hips as she rode Callie's fingers matching the pace of her hand. It was torture of the best kind going this slow, building her wife up and up and up, and she could feel the way Arizona was being restrained, was holding herself back, by the small jerks of her hips, the way that she would begin a grind down and suddenly stop.

But she could feel the orgasm building, the silky soft inner walls of her wife beginning to contract and flutter, dragging her fingers deeper and harder into her. And as Callie brought her thumb to the swollen clit, those hips did grind down with a low moan, and her name broken on Arizona's lips fell like a broken song.

Callie kissed her way up Arizona's neck, to the place behind Arizona's right ear, the place where Callie knew, because she knew the body in her arms better than she knew her own, she knew that if she sucked just the right way Arizona's spine would arch into hers, and it did forcing Arizona's clit into tighter pressure with her wandering thumb, and her name was torn from Arizona's throat again _Calliope_ , but this time it was whole and full of wonder.

The constrictions and flutters around her fingers were getting more erratic and stronger and tighter, and Arizona's arms wrapped around her, one of her hands digging tightly into her shoulder, the other gripping her hair so tightly to hold Callie's mouth against her neck. As if Callie would willingly leave this spot.

"I'm so close," Arizona husked, the words a mumbled mess of sounds and moans and whispers as the fingers against her shoulders tightened, and the grip in her hair at the back of her neck became rougher.

It was a short move for Callie to bring her lips to Arizona's ear, to throatily whisper "I'll catch you."

And she did.


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Honestly, y'all, I have no idea how much a doctor for an NHL team would make. And I don't care to look it up. And I further don't care to look up who got the Seattle NHL team, so everything is just made up. Also, I took an edible before I wrote this and I was listening to "Dream On" by Aerosmith, and while I don't think the two things are correlated, it is just what it is. I legit just stared at my computer for like a solid twenty seconds because I forgot what I was doing. Right. Anyway. I hope you like it. The story, not the edible, I already ate it.**

Arizona always found Calliope sexy; in scrubs, in scrubs with her lab coat on, in scrubs in the OR, naked, naked in their bed, naked in their shower, _did she say naked?_ , in jeans and a ratty t-shirt, in sweat pants, in pyjamas, or naked, really Calliope Torres was walking sex on a stick no matter what she was wearing.

Or wasn't wearing.

But Arizona loved, _absolutely really really loved, with a capital L_ , when her wife was dressed professionally. Even during their custody trial, Callie all smoky and sexy with black and dark colours, the woman could kill her with how undeniably sexy she was. Even when Callie was on trial herself, and she had those ridiculous rhinestone stockings on, all Arizona had wanted to do was get down on her knees and reverently run her fingers tips over the butterflies (and Callie had said she hated butterflies) and then do things to her. Sexy things. Like the kind of things she - _nope, not going there._

But today, in her deep navy almost black blazer and skirt, with a shockingly white flowy blouse on, their first Valentine's heart necklace on, and those hoopy earrings, and her hair all swooshed back and her make-up done to perfection, she was dressed to kill. And she was killing Arizona, because all Arizona wanted to do was drag Callie into the nearest private place, she'd even take a semi-private place, she wasn't an exhibionist by any stretch of the imagination, but the echoes of her prosthetic hitting the door as it hung limply beside her while Callie fucked her haunted her, and she wouldn't even mind all that much if someone caught them in a similar position.

But Arizona was still a lady.

If only on the outside.

Because while she was here as Calliope's wife, she was also here as Callie's _wife_ , and Dr. Callie Torres didn't need her wife to be acting like some crazed sex maniac in the office building of her hopefully soon to be future employers.

So she'd have to stop looking at Calliope like _that_ , because Dr. Callie Torres was here as a surgeon and doctor and recently triple board certified sports medicine surgeon, as in she'd gotten the email last night just after Arizona had gotten her off, twice, and in celebration of her wife's excellence as both a doctor and a human being, Arizona did it a third time.

And then a fourth.

And then it was four in the morning, and they were still mothers and their daughter was asleep, and she had to go to her first away camp with her girl scout group (a sleepover at the aquarium), that they had to have her ready in three and a half hours for.

But then Callie had made Arizona come for the fifth time that night, and well, all Arizona could say was that she'd had less sleep before, and she returned the _five times_ favour.

She was a lady after all.

And then they both came a sixth time, but this was better because they came together. Both extremely sensitive from the long night, it hadn't taken much. Just o _ne, two,_ and then _a third_ thrust of Callie's hot and soaked centre against hers and they collapsed in each other's arms, a tangled mess of arms and legs and sweat and love. If they were to describe their sex life to anyone, which they wouldn't ever do, one would not imagine two early forties women. With a child. And successful careers.

Then, as if the universe was mocking them, the sun had started to rise. So they trudged off to the shower, together of course, and made out. While Arizona was a bit saddened by the distinct lack of **more** sex, they were interrupted in the making out by a knock at the door, Sofia had awakened early in her excitement for her time to 'sleep with the fishes.' Though both of her mothers had laughed the first time she'd said it, she did her annoyed Callie huff with a mix of Mark glare and a dash of Arizona pout because neither of them would explain why they'd found it funny.

And they still wouldn't explain when they fell into giggles this time.

After breakfast and drop off, they had headed home for a quick nap, _and no sex this time, because Callie really needed to be refreshed and clean_ for this hopefully last meeting with the Seattle NHL team.

Arizona was secretly hoping that they would name themselves The Kraken. Since Calliope had forced her to watch The Pirates of the Caribbean movies, she'd sometimes shout "Release the Kraken" in her mind, and then she'd laugh. Also in her mind.

So after a quick morning nap, _but no quickie_ , they showered again, separately, and then gotten dressed and were now just waiting in the lobby for someone. Truthfully she'd been staring at Callie's exposed legs when she'd told her who they were waiting for, but she hadn't heard a thing.

"Cal!" An unfamiliar man shouted, rushing over to hug Callie, but judging by the look on her face and the way she'd accepted and returned the hug, Callie knew this man.

"Jimmy!" Knew this man and his name.

But she was still holding Arizona's hand, and it wasn't long before they had broken their hug and Callie turned to her, that radiant smile on her face, the one that Arizona wished she could capture in a bottle so she could carry it everywhere with her, and Callie's fingers tightened between hers, and her brown eyes sparkled and shone. All Arizona could do was melt a little and smile.

"Arizona, this is Jimmy. Uhh, Dr. James Carlson. He's the head doctor for the New York Rangers," she'd gestured to him vaguely, but kept smiling at her. "Jimmy, this is my wife Dr. Arizona Robbins."

And when Dr. Jimmy Carlson hugged her, his enthusiasm for life made her want to hug him back. Once he pulled back he turned his own smile to her, his brown eyes not sparkling as much as her wife's, but Arizona could tell that he was a nice and friendly man. "Wife? Cal, she's gorgeous!" He might also be a little bit gay. "Why didn't you tell us, you know Brad and I would have flown out!"

"It all happened so fast, I'm sorry. Did he come with you?" Callie asked, suddenly turning her head to look around for the mysterious Brad. Arizona looked too, before she realized she didn't know who Brad was.

"Yes! He's at the hotel, you know my husband," so gay, or at least gay enough to be married to a man. Her own wife was bisexual, she knew not to make that kind of assumption, "He wanted to shop a little while I was in meetings today. Where's Sofia?"

"She's at the aquarium for the night."

"Oh!" Jimmy almost shouted, and Arizona knew that she would like this man. "Dinner? You and me and Brad and your wife Arizona!"

Arizona was nodding before Callie even turned to look at her. Obviously this was someone important from Callie's time in New York, and though they had talked about it and she'd heard mention of a Jimmy and a Brad, but didn't know that they were _Jimmy and Brad_ , and she was excited to meet these people from Callie's time away.

"Excellent!" Jimmy said again, pulling them both into a hug.

Just then, over the shoulder of Jimmy, Eliza Minnick walked in. Their eyes met across the room, and while the sinking feeling of the last time she was mentioned wasn't there, she was still filled with some kind of dread. She had legitimately gone crazy there, stealing one of her best friend's baby and hiding out in a wing of the hospital that she rarely travelled.

Obviously Callie had seen her too, because they had both stiffened and Jimmy let both of them go and turned, the same exuberance in his voice as he yelled "Eliza!" and made his way to the other woman.

"You okay?" Callie asked, softly and in her ear.

"Yes, Calliope," she said, smiling up at her wife. Because that crazy hadn't been about Callie. It hadn't even been about Dr. Minnick. It was all of her insecurities come to the surface, about herself and who she was. She knew she could have fallen in love with Eliza Minnick, given the chance, but she hadn't been given the chance, and she didn't care about that anymore. What had bothered her then, and even a little bit now, was that she had felt a little bit used.

She had kind of wondered if Eliza had been drawn to her because it wasn't exactly a secret that she, Arizona Robbins - Human Rainbow, was super gay. And she had an in. Eliza had even brought up The Grey-Sloan Seven thing, as if that had been important. And so part of her, a very large part, felt that she had been used as an in with the hospital and it's staff, which had backfired harder on Eliza than it had on Arizona, Bailey's only comment "Bros before potential love interests" notwithstanding.

Suddenly Arizona wondered if she should tell Bailey that the correct vernacular was "brovaries before ovaries," but that too was unimportant.

"It had nothing to do with you, Calliope." She whispered again, raising her hand to lovingly stroke her wife's cheek. She smiled again when Callie's face leaned into the touch. "It was my own insecurity, about myself. Not about you. Not about you and me either. I was falling in love with you then, remember?"

"Yes," Callie whispered back, leaning forward to place a soft kiss on Arizona's lips, which she returned gratefully.

"And I fell so hard, and there you were, waiting for me." Arizona whispered, lightly kissing her wife's lips again.

"I'll always catch you Arizona, I love you." And she could feel the way Callie loved her. Could feel it in the way she still leant into her palm, could feel it in the way that Callie still hadn't let go of her hand.

Before she could respond Jimmy was already walking back over to them, practically dragging Eliza along behind him.

"Cal! Arizona! This is Dr. Eliza Minnick!" and Arizona had wanted to say duh, but if Sofia wasn't allowed to say it, then neither was she. "Eliza, this is Cal and her wife, Arizona!" Everything this man said sounded like it was the best and most exciting thing he'd ever said.

"Yes, hello again Dr. Minnick, thank you again so much for helping me prepare for the boards." Callie said, offering her hand to shake, which Eliza took gingerly.

"Hello, Dr. Minnick. It's nice to see you again." Which was a total lie, but judging by Callie's reaction she couldn't tell. Neither did Eliza or Jimmy. At least she hoped.

"Yes, you too Dr. Robbins."

"Wait, how did you know her name? Or that she's a doctor? Do you guys know each other?" And though Arizona had known Jimmy for all of ten minutes, the way his eyebrows wiggled suggestively reminded her of Mark and the way he could insinuate sex into everything.

"Yes, when I came to Seattle three years ago to help with their resident program, Dr. Robbins was here." Eliza said, offering Arizona a small smile.

Just as Jimmy was about to say something more, a young woman approached them, "Dr. Torres, Dr. Carlson, Dr. Minnick, and Mrs. Robbins-" but she was cut off by the other three people that surrounded her all saying "Dr. Robbins!" except Jimmy, who had said it very excitedly.

"My apologies Dr. Robbins. Mr. Santana is ready for you."

And they all followed, a bit awkwardly, except for Jimmy whose enthusiasm for life couldn't be brought down by the three uncomfortable women that were following him. Arizona idly wondered if anything could bring Jimmy down. She doubted it. She used to be that perky.

Arizona couldn't remember a worse elevator ride. And she worked at Grey-Sloan Memorial.

Approaching the large boardroom, the woman who had retrieved them turned to face them. "Mr. Santana would like to speak to Dr. Torres and Dr. Carlson alone first, then when they are finished I will come back for you Dr. Robbins and Dr. Minnick." She didn't give any of them a chance to argue or refuse, she just waved to a small side room and waved them in, beckoning Callie and Jimmy along with her eyes.

When Arizona caught Callie's, she offered what she hoped was a winning and reassuring smile, but could tell she wasn't entirely successful. Sighing she stepped into the waiting room and took a seat, while Eliza moved the other seat away from her and sat as well.

A million questions raced through her head, but Arizona kept quiet.

But Eliza couldn't handle the silence and started to say her name "Ari-" but before she finished, Arizona spoke, softly, and was finally successful at keeping the emotions out of her voice. "Why did you do it?"

Cause really, who just leaves without telling people? Crappy people do that.

"Arizona, I just… after we learned about Stephanie, about Dr. Edwards, I didn't want to-"

"To what?" Thank god she was able to control her voice, cause now she was angry. "To leave without telling me? To not answer my phone calls or texts or emails?"

"I didn't want to face you choosing them over me again."

Arizona felt her own eyebrow quirk in surprise. She would have chosen them, and she wouldn't have been sorry for that.

"You chased me, Eliza. You knew who I was, you knew that my allegiance would be with them. You made a horrible mistake that cost the hospital an excellent resident, you almost cost her her life. I would have chosen them." Even Edwards, the one who broke her leg. Because Edwards was hers.

"Yes, I made a mistake, and I wanted my girlfriend to take my side for once."

"Seriously?" Okay, a little anger came out that time.

"Yes, Arizona. I would try to talk to you about my problems, and you would always brush them off."

"I liked you Eliza, a lot. I meant what I said when I told you that you could have friends here. But you didn't listen, you kept walking around like you owned the place, always talking down about the attendings, the attendings who are my friends. I really liked you, but I love them." And really, that's what she should have said three years ago. She should have stood up for Richard more, she should have stood up for her friends more. But, she also knew that Eliza hadn't been wrong, residents shouldn't have to fight for surgeries, they should be given opportunities to learn in a safe way.

But not Eliza's way, because Arizona hated her. She didn't hate her. She didn't like her, but she didn't hate her.

But before Eliza could say anything else, the woman came back to get them, they both followed in silence. Arizona slipped into the chair beside Callie, who immediately placed a comforting hand in Arizona's arm. Covering it with her other hand, she gave it a squeeze and smiled briefly at Callie before the man before them started talking.

"So, Dr. Robbins, your wife tells me that you are a surgeon at Grey-Sloan as well. Tell me about that."

"Oh, umm, okay. I'm a pediatric surgeon, as well as a maternal-fetal surgeon, and while I am certified as an OB, I generally only get involved in emergencies or when OB needs a hand."

"So you're just as accomplished as your wife?"

"Oh no, she's much more accomplished than I am. She won a Catherine Fox Award!"

"You were nominated the same year!" Luckily Mr. Santana and Jimmy both laughed when Callie responded to her exclamation loudly.

"Yes, I saw the speech. After Jimmy recommended Callie for the position, we started gathering information about her. What kind of surgeon she was, how do patients generally feel about her, what her peers say. Dr. Minnick and Dr. Carlson both support her as our sports medicine specialist."

So that's why Eliza was here today. Arizona had been wondering.

"So Callie, did you get certified?" Mr. Santana asked.

And Arizona smiled at Callie. She was radiant now, smiling that gorgeous smile that Arizona loved, sitting tall and proud in her chair, looking gorgeous. Her wife was an amazing doctor. She'd done so many amazing things, had saved so many people that others had written off… Arizona was, and always had been, in awe of her as a surgeon.

"I did," And Jimmy and Eliza both clapped and smiled for her.

"Excellent, so the last order of business is salary."

"Yes, I'd like to say something here first, though." Callie began, and Arizona turned to her, to just watch as her amazing wife fought for what she thought she deserved. What she knew she deserved, and how fierce and powerful she looked as she did it. "When Seattle joins the NHL next year, there will be 32 teams. Of the 31 current teams, 31 sports medicine specialists are male. I will be the first woman to hold this position. As a doctor, I can do the job, and I will do it extremely well," both she and Jimmy nodded at this, "but as a woman, I am affronted that the salary and benefits you offered are so low compared to similar positions around the league."

"Well, we're a new team Dr. Torres," the switch to her formal title was not lost on any of them, "the cost of everything has to be evaluated and factored into the long term stability of the NHL in Seattle."

"And I understand that, but when Dr. Fincher was hired for the Vegas Golden Knights he was offered almost twice as much as you offered me." Arizona noted that Mr. Santana looked surprised that Callie knew that. She was surprised that Callie knew that.

She was also incredibly turned on right now, which, you know, inappropriate, but seeing Callie do her business thing and being all tall and powerful… it was arousing. Like… _deeply._ She could feel it coil low in her stomach, taking up all the space that was there. She had to cross her legs to relieve some of the pressure.

"I know that I don't have the same level of experience in sports medicine as Dr. Carlson or Dr. Minnick, but I have worked extensively in the past with both the Mariners and Seahawks, as you know, and you were the one that approached me. When your organization asked who would be a good fit, Dr. Carlson recommended me, I proved my ability to learn and grow by passing the boards without a fellowship, using past experience and learning new techniques."

God damn. Calliope Torres was a badass. _Still inappropriate Robbins, get your mind out of the gutter._

"Mr. Santana, I appreciate the opportunity for myself and for Grey-Sloan Memorial, but I am afraid I will have to turn it down if you don't offer me what I am worth."

Arizona had known Callie was going to say this. They had talked about it. They didn't need the money, and though the prestige for the hospital would be wonderful, and the opportunity for Callie's career would be even better, she would have to fight for it.

And yet… still so amazingly badass. Callie still, _still_ , had incredible stage fright. She was awful, she'd thrown up this morning. But if the only thing you knew about Calliope Torres was from this meeting, you would never have known that. Arizona was kind of wondering if she did actually have stage fright, or if that was all a ruse to get her to take her clothes off that one time.

But Mr. Santana didn't say anything for a moment, Jimmy looked as if he was watching a tennis match the way his eyes darted between Callie and Mr. Santana. Eliza had a faint smirk on her face, and all Arizona could do was stare at Callie. All sexy and radiant and businessy.

Finally, the older business man slid a piece of paper towards Callie who grabbed it an opened it. Somehow her face remained passive as she showed the strip to Arizona. Those six zeroes did not let her keep her own face passive. But she quickly tamped it down. They had _not_ talked about the exact amount of money that would be involved. They had talked about the travel requirements, especially in the spring, and the fact that she'd need a new attending in ortho (which was pending approval, just waiting to see if she got the contract), also the games that Sofia and she would go to, and the sexy tracksuit Callie would wear (Arizona had gone out immediately and bought a similar style to the ones she saw on TV and had then proceeded to immediately rip it off of her)... but they hadn't talked about this kind of money. It was less than they made as chiefs and the checks from hospital profits… but still.

Sexy and badass Calliope Torres. Her wife.

Callie showed the paper to Jimmy, and he just offered her a slight nod. So she turned her smile to Mr. Santana and held out her hand, while confidently saying "Looks like we have a deal."

888*

The meeting hadn't lasted much longer, thankfully, because she could tell by the way that Arizona was staring at her, that she needed to get her wife home. Even more thankfully, Minnick had politely declined Jimmy's invitation to join them for dinner, which was now a celebration dinner, and even more than that thankfully, Brad had called so Jimmy had run off to be with his husband for the next few hours until they would meet up for dinner.

Arizona had practically pounced on her the second they entered their house, the front door not even closed all the way as she had two armfuls of Arizona and the force of that launching had slammed the door with her back as Arizona pushed them against it.

And not that she was complaining, because really, why would she, but her wife was wasting no time at all leading Callie to where she wanted to go. Sexually, because apparently Arizona didn't care where they were geographically in the house, and not that Callie cared either, but this door was probably getting tired of all the sex they had against it.

But it was door, why was she worried about it's feelings? _Do doors have feelings?_

And if you knew where to look, which she did because she looked often, there was a small black scuff mark three inches off the ground from where she'd fucked Arizona against it the first time, and Callie couldn't bring herself to clean that one blemish on the otherwise white door. She'd look at it sometimes and smile, remembering the way that Arizona had clung to her in that moment, had broken the skin from digging her fingernails into the back of her neck, had fussed about it later when she'd seen what she'd done.

Had kissed it better and made it up to her in the kitchen.

So the scuff mark would stay.

"God, Calliope, I can't get enough of you." Arizona whispered against her neck.

And Callie had wanted to say, "The feeling is mutual," but all that came out of her mouth was a low, nonsensical moan as Arizona's teeth bit her pulse point and Callie felt her knees go weak.

"I mean we had sex like twelve hours ago, we had all kinds of sex. We made love, and then you fucked me, and then I fucked you, and then we fucked each other, and then we made love again and yet here I am, needing to fuck you again." Arizona's lips had moved up the column of Callie's throat, and they were on her ear along with her teeth, and her hands were all over Callie's body in some erratic pattern that had no rhyme or reason, and it was driving her absolutely crazy because she couldn't focus on anything because there was so much happening at once.

And then to that, she had wanted to say "Take me to bed," but she knew that some of the times she had come the hardest with Arizona there hadn't been a bed involved. There hadn't even been a bed in sight. There had been doors though. And walls. And one time the kitchen table. But even though she had wanted to say all of that, all she could manage was to say Arizona's name, sort of, she started okay, but then one of Arizona's hands had pulled her hair and the other had slipped up her thigh and it came out like "Ariz-ughhhhhh-a."

"I was watching you today, just staring at you, all sexy and fuckable in that blue suit, which I mean you can't ever wear again in public, and not because I'm going to tear it off even though I really want to, but because you're entirely too beautiful and fuckable in it, and I get so jealous when people look at you the way I look at you." And now Arizona's fingers were almost right where Callie needed them, she could feel the way that the blonde was purposely keeping her distance with her hands, but the way Arizona was able to hold up her useless body and her boneless legs, and maintain this weird equilibrium of Callie needing to beg Arizona to please just please fuck me, and just touching her everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

But all Callie was able to do was hold on to Arizona tighter and mumbled incoherently into somehow loose blonde waves and breathe her in, and mumble incoherently some more.

"I mean you're the sexiest woman I've ever seen in my life Calliope. The first time I saw you, I wanted you. That's never happened to me before. And every other time I look at you I burn with arousal, and I just stare and I stare and I stare, and sometimes when I see you staring back, it's like I believe in magic and I can't help myself." And then Arizona's fingers moved the two inches up and Callie didn't know if it was because she was still sensitive from last night, or if it was because no one had the ability to wind her up so tightly as Arizona could, or if it was because of the way that Arizona was mostly talking to her neck and her hands had finally found purchase on her breast and her dripping centre, or if it was because she knew she'd have a hickey tomorrow and it didn't worry her, but when those deft and hot and magical fingers made contact with her clit she was flying the fuck apart in Arizona's arms, screaming something.

Time meant nothing as her core pulsated over and over, she could feel the pounding of her heartbeat, and Arizona's, in her clit, and she could feel the way that Arizona's lips had moved from her neck to her ear, and though she could tell that her wife was whispering things in her ear, she couldn't make out the words.

Finally, however long it had been and she honestly didn't care, the feeling came back to her body, and she opened her eyes to find them sitting on the couch in the living room, and she was slumped on top of Arizona.

She made to move, but strong arms wrapped around her neck and Arizona's leg wrapped around her thighs to hold her in place, so she settled back on top of Arizona, her wife letting out a contented sigh.

"How did we get here?" She asked, confused.

"Umm… you may have passed out for like a second." The smug and self satisfied look in blue eyes made her laugh.

"Oh." Was all she could offer, slipping her hands underneath the body beneath hers.

"I barely touched you and you passed out for a second, and then you were back, and I tried to get you to the couch and you came willingly, obviously, but somehow when I spun you to get you to sit, you kind of grinded down on my thigh and you fell on top of me and here we are."

"How long?"

"Like five seconds, max."

And suddenly Callie couldn't contain the laughter that bubbled out of her, and she was quickly joined by the musical laughter of her wife. "That's never happened to me before."

"Me either," Arizona said, her voice filled with awe and wonder and love.


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Before you read this, there are at least eight things you need to know. Maybe more, maybe less. I haven't gotten that far yet.**

 **Thing 1: Story starts after this bold section, so if you don't care what I have to say, scroll past the bold and on to the story.**

 **Thing 2: I cried like six times writing this chapter, and when I went to reread it, I cried again. Alex Karev, you kill me.**

 **Thing 3: Nancy Meyers, you've done it again, you saucy bitch.**

 **Thing 4: I've cried literally every chapter. As I've been writing or reading or whatever. But this chapter the most.**

 **Thing 5: Jessica Capshaw and Sara Ramirez are two of the most talented and beautiful people in the world. You can fight me if you disagree.**

 **Thing 6: I have adopted Arizona's "I am a human rainbow" title for myself.**

 **Thing 7: The writers of Grey's Anatomy did a terrible disservice to Arizona and Callie when they made Arizona cheat. I could get into it, but then I'll get all ranty.**

 **Thing 8: I am getting a little disappointed by the lack of reviews. I appreciate them, a lot, am I posting too much? Do you still hate me because I am on Team Arizona? Do you hate me now that I've publicly picked a side in this dumb civil war in the CalZona fandom?**

 **Thing 9: Every time I write something about Arizona enjoying oral sex from Callie it reminds me of the time that Callie asked Mark to teach her how to do it, and then Erica Hahn gave that beautiful "you're glasses" speech. Also Erica Hahn is a terrible person for saying you can't be a little gay. Anybody can be what they want to be, let the people fly their freak flag as high as they want Dr. Hahn, you're not the boss of them.**

 **That is all the things. Enjoy.**

It was late, later than they should be up, but neither of them wanted to give in to sleep, and Callie couldn't help the way that her fingers played with Arizona's. Sofia was curled into her left side and Arizona was pressed to her right, the three of them sharing the middle of the bed as if the edges would burn them.

And she loved it.

A thunderstorm was raging outside, as if Seattle could only exist in rain and thunder, and Sofia had crawled in with them. At least she was asleep. Both of her girls were terrified of thunderstorms. She knew why Arizona was, knew the horror that her wife had lived through, and knew that panic attacks and PTSD issues could arise, so she was fighting to stay awake for her wife who seemed to be trying to crawl into her body, and if Callie could she would let her. Sofia, on the other hand, she wasn't sure where the fear had come from, and Callie wondered if in their time apart, Arizona's fear had become Sofia's.

Every time the lightning flashed, Arizona would wince and jump, a whimper of fear escaping her lips, and every time the thunder cracked the staccato beat of rain, Callie would gather her into her arm and just hold as tightly as she could. Arizona had said that it helped, and though Callie had her doubts about the effectiveness of her arms warding off fear, she still held tight.

She would win the battle against sleep, because both Arizona and Sofia needed her to be the strong one on nights like this, and she would be. For them.

They rested in silence, save for soft snores from their daughter and the occasional whisper of fear from Arizona, weathering the storm together.

"Metaphorically, I am a good man in a storm," Arizona whispered into her shoulder, the warm breath playing over Callie's shirt, "But literally, not so much."

Callie hummed non committedly, the phrase of Colonel Daniel Robbins weighing heavily on her mind. After hearing the words from her own father and asking her wife about them, Callie had pondered the meaning. Eventually she had called and asked Daniel about them. Though before she had been able to have that conversation, Barbara, also known as mom, and she had talked for roughly forty seven minutes about recipes and cooking and thanksgiving.

While Daniel had not specifically asked her to call him dad, when it slipped out after he explained the phrase and what it meant to him, she had said " _Thank you dad"_ and she heard the smile in his voice when he said you're welcome.

His words came back to her now. " _When a ship is at sea, the men have only two things: each other and the boat. Storms happen at sea, dangerous, life-altering storms, that threaten life and limb, and you need a good man in a storm. Not a man who has been well trained, who knows the boat as well as he knows himself. But a man who knows his men and his boat and himself. A man who can look the storm in the face and say, not today. A man who doesn't give in to fear, who looks fear in face, and gathers the courage to keep looking, to keep looking and move forward. It was a phrase the Marine Corps used to describe my father."_

And in his words Callie could see Arizona. Could see the doctor and surgeon and teacher she was, and the way that she didn't let anything phase her in the minute, in the storm to continue the metaphor. She didn't freeze, she protected her men.

But she also saw the Arizona that she herself had described to Carlos. The one who shrunk back, who had lost herself in the storm.

And they were two completely different women, yet somehow exactly the same. The same because Arizona had found her way out of the storm of those horrible three years, where they suffered trauma after trauma, heartache after heartache, loss after loss… and while Callie had blamed her for a while there for getting lost, she now realized that Arizona Daniel Robbins had been a good man in a storm the whole time. Sure she'd lost herself for a minute, but she came out. Battered and weathered, yes, but still strong and whole.

"It's okay to be scared of the storm, Arizona." She whispered to the top of her wife's head, "You can weather this."

"Mmm." Was the only answer she received.

The storm was petering out, moving away from their own lives and their home, and slowly her wife was relaxing at her side, the small tremors subsiding and leaving her wife. "When you hold me like this Callie, and Sofia too, I feel like I can weather anything. Even just knowing that you're here, and knowing that you'll be here gives me strength. I don't need your strength to carry me through, I don't need to lean on you to make it through. But I want it."

Callie pressed a lingering kiss to Arizona's temple and held on. She knew that Arizona didn't need her strength, she knew that Arizona was strong, stronger probably than even the blonde thought she was, but she would carry the load when Arizona asked. She didn't have to, but she wanted to.

"Can I ask you something?" She questioned, Arizona still resting against her cheek.

"Anything."

"A few times now, when we've been talking about our life and our future, you've said the word 'children,' as in more than one. And you said in therapy that you still wanted more kids with me. Is that something you still want?"

Callie was hesitant to bring this subject up. It had destroyed them, multiple times in so many different ways. The first time it was because Arizona hadn't wanted children, and Callie had pushed and pushed until Arizona was forced to end things between them. It was only years later that Callie had realized that Arizona had done it for her. That she had broken up with her so that Callie could follow her dream of being a mother and having children.

The second was her own inability to carry another child, and Arizona's subsequent miscarriage. They hadn't truly been there for each other those times. They had both been lost in themselves and their pain, and hadn't relied on each other like they were now.

The third and final time, had been the argument surrounding surrogacy and the fellowship and the continued decline of their ability to communicate effectively (or really even at all, not talking to each other about their thoughts and dreams and fears) that had led to the dissolution of their first marriage.

But it had been a lingering thought in the back of her mind and her heart. She had been truthful with Arizona when she'd said that she would be happy with just the three of them, and she was, and she would continue to be if it stayed this way. However, she couldn't deny that the thought of having another child with Arizona was appealing.

"Is it something you want Callie?" She was so incredibly happy that the hesitation and anger of past conversations like this was missing from Arizona's voice.

"I love our life now, truly I do."

"I believe you, and I feel the same way."

"But… sometimes, in my dreams and my daydreams, I still see a tiny baby boy, and he's got crazy curly hair that can never be tamed. And his eyes, his eyes are so much like his momma's that it takes my breath away. And Sofia is there, and she loves him. She reads to him, she plays with him, she holds his little hand."

"You see a boy? What's his name?"

"Timmy." Because that had been her only thought if they would've had a boy. She would have been happy, overjoyed, with either. But if they'd had a boy, she'd wanted to name him Timothy. Not Timothy Daniel, because Arizona and her brother shared that middle name, but definitely Timothy.

"For my brother?" The surprise and joy in Arizona's voice filled with Callie with love. How they'd never even talked about this during that time, Callie didn't know.

"No, for the first boy I kissed in seventh grade." She teased, pressing another kiss to Arizona's temple.

"Hmm, must have been some kiss to name your first born son after." Arizona teased back, lightly scratching the skin of Callie's stomach where her hand rested. "Our next girl will definitely have to be named Michelle."

"Yes, for your brother, you absolute dork." And Callie loved that Arizona huffed with indignation and lightly pinched her side.

"I want your dream to come true Callie, because you made gave me dreams that I had never wanted, and you made them come true. And I don't just want your dreams to come true for you, because they're my dreams too. But if we do this, if we decide that we want this, I need you to be okay with using a surrogate." And Callie was. Because she understood Arizona's loss. After watching April and Jackson with Samuel, and their hesitancy with Harriet, Callie couldn't handle that again either. While it would still be painful with a surrogate, Callie knew that they would lean on each other this time.

"Are we too old though? Let's just say we find a surrogate tomorrow, which is literally impossible, we'll be sixty by the time they graduate from high school. Seventy by the time they're done med school and enter surgical residency. Retired by the time they have their own children." Callie felt herself going slightly crazy.

"Are you panicking because our currently hypothetical child will lose us too early?"

She was, she totally was. "Maybe."

"Well, we still have the frozen embryos from last time, so finding someone to carry for us is the hardest part."

"Wait, art school guy? The professor? What did he look like again?"

"Typical caucasian dude, you said he was hot, I said he was almost as pretty as Mark, which you disagreed with, and since I was drunk on the wine I was never going to get to have again for two years, I agreed with you." Right, Callie remembered drunkenly teasing Arizona about her finding Mark attractive. For which she had received a shove that had spilled wine all over their new carpet and they'd had to get the steam cleaner out at one in the morning.

"What colour were his eyes?" Because now that she'd voice the dream of baby blue eyed Timothy, she wanted him.

"They were blue. You were insistent."

"I want a baby Arizona."

"That's literally what we're talking about." Arizona laughed softly.

"No, I mean I want _your baby_ , as in your genetics. I've seen the pictures, you and Tim were adorable little fat babies, all big blue eyes and crazy blonde hair."

Sofia mumbled something in her sleep, and rolled so her back was now pressing against Callie's leg. But she slept on, her soft snores filling the silence once again.

"Don't forget to ask my parents what terrors we were."

"What? You mean you, Arizona Robbins, self-confessed monster and control freak, and your brother, six foot four All American boy-next-door, Marine Corps veteran weren't angels?" She said with mock surprise.

"Shut up Calliope." Arizona said with a laugh.

The storm outside had passed, and though it was still raining, the sound filling the room with a comforting beat against their window and roof. The storm of their past and this conversation was passing as well, leaving nothing behind in its wake except a quiet longing and hopefulness.

"Would you really want to name him Timmy? If we had a boy?"

"Yes." And she meant it. "That was the first time I saw you cry, outside of being mad at Richard. He was important to you, he was important to your family. Plus he's also named after your dad, so it's kind of a win-win, two birds situation."

"His middle name could be Carlos. Timothy Carlos Torres."

"Not Timothy Carlos Robbins-Torres?" Because if she was going to have a Robbins baby boy, she was going to do it right.

"This is ridiculous, and please know that I know that Callie, but a part of me wishes that Mark were still around to have been our sperm donor. He was pretty, and smart, and he's Sofia's daddy, and I just feel like it would be nice for Sof to have a genetic sibling. Which is absolutely ridiculous because Zola and Bailey and Ellis. And even my relationship with Sofia, we don't share DNA and she's as much my baby as she is yours and Mark's. But sometimes at the grocery store or the zoo or wherever and you're not around, I get the look. The look that says 'what's this ghost of a woman doing with a distinctly not ghost child.'"

The longer Arizona talked into her shoulder, the wider Callie felt her eyes widen in surprise. "Why have you never said that, about the racism?"

"Because I know she's mine. Everyone who matters knows she's mine. And most importantly, Sofia knows she's mine. I just wish the world were different. And this baby, the one we're talking about right now, even if he's a Robbins, he's still a Torres. He'll be your baby boy."

"Timothy Carlos Robbins-Torres." Callie whispered, this time pulling Arizona into a languid kiss, mindful of their daughter sleeping beside them.

"Are we really going to do this?" Arizona asked, resting her forehead against Callie's.

"Yes," Callie breathed, pressing another kiss to her wife's lips, feeling happy and overjoyed.

"I'm scared Calliope."

"Me too." And this was this difference this fourth time of having this discussion. Because they admitted it, they voiced it. They listened to each other, and they didn't hide their fear and insecurity about it, they shared and they would carry the burden of that fear together.

"Let's think about girls names tomorrow then, because just for tonight, I want to dream about Sofia and Timmy too."

888*

Ten months had gone by since that night, the night where Arizona and Callie decided to try to have another baby. The beginning of the journey had been rocky. They had in fact gone to the surrogacy agency the next day, and were quickly picked by a young woman. She was a mother of two herself, and had been a surrogate for another couple, twice. She was young, healthy, and had four successful pregnancies, and it seemed she brought her luck with her to Callie and Arizona. Because she got pregnant with the first implantation. But it seemed that Callie and Arizona had also brought their luck to her life, because she'd lost the first baby. It happens, a lot, Addison had said, with fertility treatments. As if Callie and Arizona didn't know that. That's exactly what had happened to them. But Addison didn't know that, how could she, they'd never told her the whole story.

The second implantation took as well. And they didn't tell anyone this time. Not even Sofia. Because she had cried with them when the surrogate lost the first, so this time they kept it to themselves, not willing to burden anyone else with heartbreak a second time.

And they had shared their heartbreak over the first time together. They carried each other through it. They had held a private funeral for a baby that didn't even exist. They had cried with each other, they held each other, they grieved with each other, and they got through it with each other. They also decided, with each other, that they would try three times more. No matter what, three times more. If they didn't get a baby out of it, well they were both happy with how their family was, just them, Callie and Arizona and Sofia. If they ended up having four children all together, well they would buy a different house. (But Arizona had said that they might have to build one because she needed this fireplace and this mantle, and Callie had agreed.)

But now it was eight months later and they still hadn't told anyone. Still not Sofia, not their friends, not their families, not any one. Because, and they would both deny it if you asked, they were still kind of afraid. Not of having the baby, no, that they were overjoyed about that, but about telling people. Things tended to go wrong when you told people about them. Especially babies. When April and Jackson had lost Samuel, the whole hospital had been affected. That's just the way they were.

Their surrogate was 34 weeks along and she was doing well. She went to all of her checkups, she took all of her vitamins, she didn't drink or do drugs, she did her homework (she was studying to be a nurse), she took care of her own kids. She was healthy and she was happy and she was pregnant, and she planned to stay that way for the next seven weeks.

And if this were a movie or a television show, an ominous voice over would say "Because life always goes according to plan."

 **Arizona Robbins**

Today was a great day. She'd delivered two healthy and happy baby boys to two happy and proud sets of parents. She's performed what was now a routine maternal fetal surgery and had been able to keep that baby cooking.

But today was an especially good day because, well just because. There was nothing special about this day. She was happy because her wife was happy, she was happy because Sofia was enjoying the third grade and she and Zola were working hard to prepare for the Spring Science fair, not bugs again, thank god, but electricity. She was happy because Andrew and Meredith seemed happy, and she knew that they were happy because they had been having sex, and she knew that because they'd hidden in her house to do it. Twice.

She was happy because her new baby, which they had decided not to find out the sex of, was healthy and happy and so was their surrogate, Katie. She was happy, her kids and her husband was happy. Sure there were some unhappy people in the hospital, patients and friends, and she felt for them, but Arizona was just happy. She hadn't been this happy in a long time.

When her pager beeped with a 911 to the pit, she was so happy that she didn't feel ominous. She didn't get a sense of panic, she just rushed to the ER, hoping that she would be able to help whoever it was that needed help, because she loved being able to look parents in the eyes and tell them that their baby was going to be just fine, to look at husbands or wives or partners or boyfriends and tell them that the mother of their child was also going to be just fine.

Once in the ER she looked at the admitting nurse who just held up three fingers. It was a good system that April had implemented. It made shouting across the ER unnecessary, and was a quick and efficient way for the ER staff to direct the surgeons.

Pulling open the curtain for bed three, her entire world stopped. The happy bubble she had been living in popped. No, it shattered, because all Arizona could think was "not again."

There on the bed, surrounded by surgeons, by her friends, was Katie. Amelia was doing a neuro exam, Owen and April and Meredith were rushing on about abdominal bleeding, Alex and Jo were talking about the baby, residents were scattered doing their bidding and she had to stop and close her eyes and breathe and count down from ten, to push down the panic and bile that had risen in her throat.

 _10\. Breathe in._

 _9\. Not again. Please not again._

 _8\. Breathe out._

 _7\. Don't think about the sonogram picture you've been carrying for six months._

 _6\. Breathe in._

 _5\. April saw it that one time, but luckily it had Nelson, K. as the patient. Luckily April had accepted her flimsy excuse of why she was carrying a worn sonogram picture in her pocket._

 _4\. Breathe out._

 _3\. April is saying your name, Arizona. But you need to finish counting. You are a good man in a storm, and this is going to be a fucking hurricane._

 _2\. Breathe in._

 _1\. Now Owen is saying your name._

Just. Breathe.

"Robbins, what's wrong?" Owen snapped at her, but she didn't have time for him. She needed Calliope right now. But her wife was in surgery.

"Wilson, when was the last time you did a hip replacement?" She asked, her doctor voice coming out. It was how she was going to function until Callie got here.

Jo's eyes snapped to her, confusion written over her face. She didn't know that the baby she and Alex were talking about was going to be her new niece or nephew. Neither did Alex.

"Wilson!" She demanded.

"Last year, Dr. Robbins." These people were professionals, they knew something was going on with her, Arizona wasn't blind to the way she hadn't moved, hadn't rushed in. Because she wasn't allowed to.

"Please go to OR 4 and take over for Dr. Torres. Tell her Katie has been in an accident."

Arizona watched the way that Jo looked at the other five who all simply nodded at her, and she rushed off. She would learn if she would be an aunt again, or not, soon enough.

"Robbins what the hell is going on?" Alex demanded, Meredith casting a glance at her. "Get in here and help!"

"I can't," she started, because they still hadn't told them about Katie. Or their pregnancy. "Can someone please page Dr. Turner." Turner used to be her OB fellow. He was a good surgeon, he could do this. She really wanted Addison to be here, but she knew that Addison wouldn't make it. She wished, for the thousandth time, that Nicole Herman was here.

"Robbins, dude, what the hell are you just standing there for. The baby is in distress. Help us." Karev shouted at her, and she winced at his words and his tone. She'd already broken hospital protocol once for her children, and it had almost killed her. Those few seconds until Sofia's heart started beating, she could have sworn she died along with them.

"I can't help you Dr. Karev." They all looked at her strangely, she felt the ice picks of Alex's glare piercing her entire being. "The patient's name is Katie Nelson, and I can't help you Dr. Karev because she is carrying my baby."

All five of them stopped. All five of them paused for just a second, just a second for understanding to wash over their faces, just a second for the panic she felt down to her toes to burst full fledged on to their faces. And then the world exploded into motion, a broken jumble of sounds and syllables and _not again, please god, not again_ floating around her.

"Reroute Turner to the OR, let's move people."

And they were gone. If Arizona hadn't had to step to the side so they could rush Katie and her baby to the OR, she was sure that she would not have moved at all.

 **Jo Wilson**

Dr. Robbins' request had been strange, almost as strange as Dr. Robbins had been. But she trusted the woman, trusted that what she had sent her to do was important, trusted the nods of her friends when they confirmed that she should go.

So she went.

Grabbing a plain surgical cap, her own being put in the hospital laundry, she stepped through the scrub room and grabbed a mask and began scrubbing in, recounting the steps of a hip replacement in her head, visualizing the moves in the four minutes she had to scrub her hands and arms.

When she stepped into the surgical theatre, Dr. Torres' back was to her, but the music was playing loudly, Led Zeppelin she thought, and Dr. Torres was dancing as she performed surgery.

Jo gestured to the nurse by the iPod dock, and she shut the music down.

"What the hell?" Callie had asked the nurse, and Jo asked to be gowned and gloved. She had decided to relay Dr. Robbins message after she saw where Callie was in the process. She'd never seen Dr. Robbins like that, and she was worried about Dr. Torres.

"Wilson, what the hell?" Callie demanded.

"I'm to take over for you Dr. Torres, please tell where you are in the procedure." Ensuring that she kept her hands in the surgical field, she walked over and saw that she could finish this. It was a routine surgery, and Dr. Torres had been an excellent teacher.

"Seriously Wilson, what the hell."

"Dr. Robbins sent me." And thankfully, that had been enough for Callie to take a step back and explain where she was and what she was doing. Jo made sure to listen intently.

After Callie had finished, Jo took her place as lead surgeon and with a firm look into her friends eye she said, and though she didn't know why she was doing this, she trusted Dr. Robbins, her friend Arizona, "Dr. Robbins is in the ER, bed 3, she said to tell you Katie has been in an accident."

And she didn't get to find out what it meant, or why it was important for her to finish this surgery, because Callie's eyes widened as she ripped off her own gown and gloves and ran from the OR.

"Let's turn the music back on, shall we?"

 **Meredith Grey**

She could not believe that this was happening again, especially when Callie and Arizona had been so happy lately. Though Callie wouldn't explain why she was suddenly beaming and extra happy all the time, but Meredith knew know.

This patient, Katie Nelson, was theirs now. She was a part of this family. And so was this baby. They would work as hard on Katie as they would on anyone, but all of them, even Alex who was kind of starting to panic now, but she only knew that he was panicking because she knew Alex, would take that extra step, move to extraordinary lengths to keep this baby, and keep Katie, alive. Because they belonged to them now.

"Did they tell any of you? Grey? Kepner?" Hunt asked, and all the eyes in the OR turned to her and Kepner, who were working side by side, trying desperately to keep mother and child alive.

"No," was all Kepner said, keeping her focus on the body in front of her. And though Meredith could see the tears gathered in her eyes, Kepner continued to fight for Katie. She could also hear Kepner praying under her breath, the words slipping easily from behind the surgical mask.

Finally, Turner arrived and moved immediately to the fetal monitor that was beeping. It seemed low to Meredith, but she wasn't sure. Alex seemed to be concerned, and though it was hidden by his scrub cap, she could see the way his brow furrowed. It was his doctor furrow, not his regular Alex Karev furrow.

"I can't believe none of us knew that they were having a baby." Amelia said, her focus on Katie's exposed brain.

The chatter continued, about Callie and Arizona and the new baby, but Meredith ignored them. Babies and this hospital didn't mix. Not one of the children born to any of her friends or even her own children, had had a normal birth. These halls were fucking cursed.

"Shit, Sofia!" She exclaimed suddenly, finally remembering the elder child of her friends, her daughter's best friend. "Cynthia, come grab my phone out of my back pocket please."

The scrub nurse did as she asked, and then dictated the text to the sitter who was picking up Zola. _Please bring your ID to pick up Zola today, I need you to grab Sofia as well. -M_

It wasn't a second before she got a response. _Zola and Sofia, got it Dr. Grey. -J_

"Every quiet down," she demanded of the room and thankfully they all did.

Cynthia held the phone up on speaker between her and Kepner who was still praying. "Margaret Murie Elementary School, Janice speaking, how may I help you?"

"Hi Janice, this is Dr. Grey calling on behalf of Dr. Torres and Dr. Robbins."

"Hello there Dr. Grey. What can I do for you?"

"Dr. Torres and Dr. Robbins won't be able to pick Sofia Sloan-Torres up today, can you please send her home with Zola and my sitter Jenny?"

"Jenny isn't on the approved list for Sofia, Dr. Grey."

"I'm aware Janice, but Dr. Torres and Dr. Robbins have had an emergency come up, and I am on the approved list."

"Okay Dr. Grey, remind Jenny to bring her ID."

"Yes, thank you Janice."

Cynthia hung up the phone and was just about to put it down when Meredith got her to send one more text, to both Callie and Arizona. _Jenny is getting Sofia when she gets Zola. -M_

"That was kind of you Mer," Hunt said.

"Well there isn't much I can do for them right now. They're out there, freaking out about a baby that they didn't tell us about, we're all freaking out right now trying to save Katie and this baby, and she's our family now too. We have to help our family."

Because that was the truth. It was weird that they were a family, that they needed each other as much as they did. But both Callie and Arizona had been there before in the past, and they would be there for her again. They were a freaking village. And villages need each other. And Meredith was frustrated that she couldn't do more than try to save Katie. So she took care of them the only way she knew how, by saving Katie and their baby, and by taking care of Sofia.

As Cynthia was reading the text she got from Arizona, _thanks -A_ Turner and Karev both started shouting.

"Decels, we have to get the baby out now!"

 **Carlos Torres**

Carlos hated New York in the spring. It was all slushy and wet and dirty. He missed the shores of his Miami estate, the sprawling lawns that abutted the ocean, the salty spray and smell was home. This barren and concrete wasteland was a terrible ode to a city and he couldn't fathom the reason almost ten million people called it home.

It was ridiculous.

But mercifully his meeting was finished and he could head back to Miami now. Back to his wife and his step-daughter, back to a place where looking at the ground didn't make him feel like muttering like a grumpy old man.

In the town car on the way to the airport, his phone rang, a picture of his beautiful daughter Calliope and her wife and their daughter filled the screen. It was one of the ones Calliope had sent him, and Carlos was thankful that they were only smiling, he'd seen the way that the pictures on their phones involved kissing, and while he accepted Calliope for who she was, and her wife, kissing was asking a bit much.

Even if he had cried at their wedding.

"Hola mija, como estas?"

"Hola papa, where are you?" Carlos knew that she was in trouble. When they talked on Sunday's, his daughter could jabber away in Spanish for hours and hours. Sofia, his beautiful granddaughter, was working her way up to that level of fluency, but both reverted to English when tough subjects came up.

"I'm in New York, I had a meeting but it is finished now. What's wrong Calliope?"

"Daddy, Arizona and I decided to have another baby, but she was in an accident and they aren't sure if the surrogate is going to make it." And though Calliope's voice was strong and sure, he could hear the tears in her voice.

"Oh mija, I'm so sorry. I will pray for her, and for your baby."

"Can you come, daddy?"

"Yes, I will call the airport right away, change the flight plan to Seattle." He would miss Lucia's dinner party, but Carlos could remember when Arizona called him nine years ago and the panic that she had felt because of the danger Calliope and Sofia had been in. He remembered the way that she had been hesitant to call him, had sounded afraid of calling him, but he would be there for his daughter this time. Both of them.

"Can you stop in Boston and pick up Arizona's parents?"

"Of course mija, see you soon."

 **Barbara and Daniel Robbins**

"Daniel, honey, Arizona is calling." Her husband grumbled for a brief second, having just sat down in his favourite chair for a brief nap before dinner. They were getting older now, she and Daniel, but no matter the time of day or the reason for the call, they always had time for their daughter.

And her daughter had always been a daddy's little girl. All blonde pigtails and skinned knees, a bouncing ball of energy that often exasperated Barbara, but she took to Daniel like stink on a mule. And he was exactly the same way. And Barbara wouldn't have it any differently.

Answering the call and placing it on speaker phone, she and Daniel said "Hello Sweets," at the same time, and she swore that she swooned a little when he smiled at her. Forty-five years of marriage later, and she was still so in love with this man.

"Hey mom and dad," their daughter said, but Daniel had bristled at the tone, his gruff voice asking "What's wrong Arizona?"

Her baby girl hiccuped once, a trait she'd had ever since she was a child and was trying not to cry. "Arizona, sweetie, it's okay."

"Callie and I are having a baby." Barbara gasped, this should be good news! But the way that Daniel bristled again at the hiccup worried her, but they both knew that sometimes Arizona got like this when she was upset. That their girl was a good man in a storm, and these pauses were so she could gather herself.

"Our surrogate was in an accident, and they're not sure if they're going to make it. Katie or the baby." Barbara's heart sputtered and started again, at the pained sound of Arizona's voice and the way that Daniel's face fell and was instantly controlled again.

"Do you need us, Sweets?" Daniel asked.

"Yes please."

"We'll book tickets for the next flight out, Sweets, we'll be there for you and Callie and Sofia as fast as we can." Barbara said, dragging Daniel behind her so she could get on the google and start finding tickets.

"Carlos is flying to Boston in his jet right now, from New York to stop and pick you up. Callie texted you his number so call him to get the information."

Barbara knew that Daniel wasn't fond of the man, but he'd do anything for his baby girl. Would go to war for her, would scale mountains, would drain the oceans if he could, he'd accept this help to get to his daughters and granddaughter faster.

He too was a good man in a storm.

 **Miranda Bailey**

Something was happening in the hospital, she could feel it. Bailey didn't know what it was or who was causing the problem, but it seemed like a lightbulb was going to go out. It had that hum of fluorescent lights, where they kind of crackle a little bit, just to let you know something was wrong. It hadn't started flickering yet, but Bailey was going to find it and she was going to fix it.

Because she was the chief. That was her job.

Her rounds took her to the surgical floor, and she was surprised to find it full of people. Nurses and residents and attendings and interns, all looking doom and gloom. She knew it wasn't one of her people, she'd have been paged.

But at least she'd found the problem.

"DeLuca," she said, catching the ridiculously tall man's attention, and every one turned to her as well, "What's going on?"

"We're uh, waiting Chief Bailey. We're waiting."

"Who y'all waiting for?" Because the last time she found a scene like this Izzie Stevens had been under the knife. And Kepner had been under the knife. And Grey.

It was Schmitt who answered, "Katie, Dr. Bailey. We're waiting for Katie."

"Who is Katie?" She asked, she knew the names of every surgeon and nurse in this hospital. There was no Katie.

"She's Arizona's and, sorry, I mean she's Dr. Robbins and Dr. Torres' surrogate, Dr. Bailey." DeLuca almost looked like he was about to cry.

"Robbins and Torres are having a baby?" How did she not know this? She was the chief, she was supposed to know everything.

And though no one had said it, the echoes of maybe hung in the air; the unwanted answer to her unwelcome question.

Silence fell in that uncomfortable maybe, the surgeons and nurses milling about the OR board quiet and contemplative, and Miranda Bailey knew why it felt like a light had gone out.

"So we'll wait."

 **Alex Karev**

Alex could remember what it was like when Sofia was born. He was reminded of it every time he hung out with the little squirt. He didn't know how to save her. Robbins had done that. Robbins had come in and saved Sofia and he watched and he learned.

But he saved this baby. He'd spent eleven years learning from her, and not because he couldn't save Sofia, but because Robbins had seen something in him from the very first moment they had met, and she took the time to teach him, to coach him through becoming a doctor, a good doctor for kids and for babies, and he used everything she had ever given him to make sure that he could save this baby.

But he hadn't even needed to do much this time around. This baby was further along than Sofiahad been, and it was strong and healthy and surprisingly big for how far along it had been. This baby was going to be okay. Not because of him, Alex knew that, but because Robbins and Torres finally needed something good to happen to them when it came to the birth of their kids. So he'd been there, and he ran through everything that Robbins had ever taught him, had ever forced him to learn, had ever forced him to learn by himself, because Robbins loved him.

And because he loved her. She was the big sister that he'd never known he'd wanted or needed. They all were, Robbins and Torres and Mer and Shepherd and Pierce, they had all taken him into their lives and they loved him. He didn't know what he'd done to deserve Robbins, and saving this baby wasn't to earn her love, because he already had that, but he was thankful for her.

But now he needed to find her, to find them, so they could meet their new baby, who'd probably also call him Uncle Alex, and even if he was crying thinking like that, he didn't care. Well, he didn't care a lot. He was holding the baby in his arms, his fellow following close behind with the NICU bed. The baby was strong, but it would need to be put back in the bed soon, but Robbins and Torres could hold it for a little bit first. Plus, he and Robbins were the two best pediatric surgeons on the west coast, or so she said, and the fellow was coming along nicely. In fact, he'd probably brought more than they'd need.

But the baby was safe in his arms, just as safe as it would be if it were in either of it's moms.

And he knew where they'd be, too. So looking for them hadn't taken long at all. Because normally they hung out in the NICU, but they hadn't been up there when he was checking out the baby, making sure all fingers and toes were accounted for, doing everything he needed to do for premature babies. So he knew that Robbins and Torres were in the deserted hallway down in the tunnels. He'd found them there, making out like the gross people they were, a couple of times.

And there they were, huddled together on the same gurney, both softly crying and not speaking. Not that there was much to say.

It was Torres that looked up at the sound of his footsteps, the NICU bed and his fellow following close behind. He could tell the moment she saw the baby in his arms, the way her tears stopped and she sat up straighter.

And for the first time that he could ever remember, he said her name. "Arizona."

She looked up at him, surprise and shock all rolled into one, and she gave him that same smile she did whenever she told him she was proud of him, and her tears stopped too.

He stopped in front of them, not knowing who he was supposed to give the baby to, but Torres gestured to Robbins, so he bent forward and transferred it into Robbins' arms and he said "Arizona, I'd like you to meet your son."

 _AN: So I got some complaints about the wedding chapter, and while they weren't negative, I am choosing to address them now. Because as you've just read, I did the same thing here. In my opinion, Grey's Anatomy is the story about a village. Dysfunctional at times, but still a collection of individuals whose lives are entwined. Love and friendship are at the heart of the story of this Seattle hospital, and though this story is a Callie/Arizona story, it's also about their lives with each other and with Sofia. And it's also about Alex and April and Meredith and Maggie and Andrew and Jackson and Richard and Miranda and Jo and Addison and Owen and Teddy and Amelia. And it's also about Mark, and it's about Derek. It's about all of them. Because to me, they are a family. Meredith's comments at the custody trial, about them being a village were probably what swayed the judge to grant custody to Arizona. It wasn't because Callie was a bad mom, it was because Arizona would stay in Seattle, would stay where the established support system was. GSM is their village. The people whose lives we follow are their village. That's what I've been trying to do. I hope you like it._


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Just because I said doom and gloom, doesn't mean I'm as terrible as the writer's of Grey's Anatomy. Cause sometimes, they suck.**

"You're staring again." Meredith whispered at her shoulder, and Callie felt herself jump a little.

She was, she totally was. And even when Meredith had startled her, Callie just kept right on staring. She could stare at Arizona holding Timmy with Sofia standing by their sides forever.

Arizona was sitting in a rocking chair beside their son's NICU bed, holding Timmy tightly to her chest with her left arm, and holding Sofia close with her right, showing their daughter her new brother, softly talking and answering questions, ensuring that the little girl was included. It was way past her bedtime, but Callie had already made the decision that she wouldn't be going to school tomorrow anyway, and plus her grandparents were coming in a couple hours, so it was a special day.

"Hey Mer," She whispered back, still just staring at her family.

After Alex had found them in the tunnels, they'd both gotten to hold the baby for five minutes exactly, and even though Alex was technically Timmy's doctor, when he'd made Callie put Timmy back in the NICU bed, he'd sounded pained and like a friend. But he'd done it. And he was standing there now, hovering close enough that while he checked on the other babies in the NICU, Callie could see how his eyes darted to Timmy's monitors and then to Arizona and Sofia.

"How's Katie?" She asked, because if Meredith was here now, that means she was done in surgery.

"She'll be okay," Callie breathed a sigh of relief. She kind of understood how Arizona felt now, from Sofia's birth, and she could understand Mark's fear. And they both loved her, deeply, she just had a passing affection for the woman who'd carried Timmy for them. "Her recovery will be similar to yours."

"Thanks Mer, and thanks for taking care of Sofia, we were trying to get one of our sitters to pick her up when we got your text." She had bumped her shoulder with Meredith's, who offered a small smile back, but Callie noticed that she too was staring.

"Go be with them, and then tomorrow I'll yell at you a little bit for not telling any of us. And you don't get to bring up the fact that I disappeared for a year and came back with a baby." Callie laughed, and Meredith bumped her shoulder into her own this time, a smile on her face as she turned and walked away.

Grabbing the pink NICU gown, Callie did stop staring and walked into the room. As she was getting closer, she noticed Alex gesture to one of the nurses out of the corner of her eye, and suddenly they were bringing her a rolling stool. She nodded to him, and he nodded back, still hovering in the background, still watching.

"Hey guys," she whispered. Sofia sighed, and moved to lean against her side, so Callie wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her daughter close as they both looked at Arizona and Timmy.

"Hi mommy," Sofia whispered. "Did you know I have a brother?"

"Yes, little bug, I did. He's right there in momma's arms."

"No, like before he came here. Where did he come from?" Callie didn't regret not telling Sofia about Timmy, and though she felt a little bit bad about springing it on her and then introducing them in the span of twenty minutes, she'd handled it very well. She was curious. They'd had the discussion of bringing another baby into the family multiple times over the last ten months, but after she was devastated when Katie's first implantation didn't take, they had decided not tell her.

They knew that they were probably holding on to previous pain and grief from their own lives, and maybe probably wasn't a good idea to spring something so monumental on their almost nine year old, but Callie still didn't regret it.

"You remember Katie?" She asked, and Sofia nodded, her eyes darting between her two moms.

"Well, like last time Katie got pregnant with our baby and now he's here." Sofia had asked a million uncomfortable questions about pregnancy and surrogacy that first time, and they had answered them the best they could. But when she had boiled it down to the fact that she was going to have a brother or sister like her best friend, her questions about the pregnancy had stopped and all she'd asked was 'when?'

"Okay, but why is he named Timmy?"

But it was Arizona answered, "I've told you about your Uncle Tim, remember?" Sofia nodded again, her gaze drifting down to the baby. "Uncle Tim was my brother, just like Timmy is yours."

"Where is Uncle Tim?" Sofia asked. And Callie watched as a flash of pain crossed Arizona's face, it was gone in less than a second, but by the way she swallowed, Callie knew that her wife was trying not to cry. This had been an emotional day, mentions of her brother didn't make Arizona cry anymore, but today Callie felt like she could cry at sad commercials on TV.

So she answered for Arizona, "He's in heaven baby, with Daddy and Uncle Derek." And her wife's smile and slight nod, Callie knew that that had been the right answer. And though she'd never met Tim Robbins, had never had the privilege of meeting Arizona's brother and get to know the man that had died for his country, the man that they named their son after, she knew that he was with Mark and Derek and Lexie, and all of their friends.

"Okay," was all Sofia had said. They had tried to keep Mark's memory alive for Sofia. And Callie wasn't sure that they were doing a good job. Sofia knew who her father was, knew all about the man, they had pictures of him in their house and in her room, and made sure that she still carried his name, but he'd died before she could form any memories of him herself. They would answer her questions when she asked them, but it still saddened her that Sofia would never know Mark for herself.

They sat there, the four of them, for long moments in silence, just being a family. Arizona was holding a sleeping Timmy and Callie was holding a falling asleep Sofia. It was late now, definitely past her bedtime, but she had been fighting to stay awake for her grandparents and because she wanted to see her new brother. But they had promised her that he would be around tomorrow, and that since she got to skip school tomorrow, she'd get to see him whenever she wanted.

"Hey guys," Alex came over and whispered, his hand coming to rest on Arizona's shoulder. "Mr. Timothy needs to go back into the NICU bed for a little bit."

This roused Sofia a bit, and she blinked slowly looking around before she asked, "Can I kiss him goodbye first Uncle Alex?"

"Absolutely Squirt, did you know that kisses from big sisters is some of the most powerful medicine?"

"Really?" She asked, voice full of wonder as she moved from Callie's arms back to Arizona's side. Callie's heart felt full at the look on her daughter's face, the way that she leaned against Arizona's arm as she held Timmy to her, and the way that Sofia was being careful and slow in her movements as she leaned down to kiss his ruddy cheek.

"Totally." Alex said with a smile, taking the baby from Arizona and placing him back in the NICU bed.

He'd said that the baby didn't need to be there for long, this was mostly precautionary, but Callie was still worried. Sofia had lived in this NICU for just over three months, a couple beds down from where they were sitting by Timmy's bed.

Callie watched as Sofia climbed into Arizona's lap and cuddled in, her head resting against Arizona's chin as the blonde wrapped Sofia in her arms. It hardly took a minute for her to fall asleep, and Arizona didn't look far behind.

"I'm gonna go grab our parents from the airport, are you going to stay here?" She asked, lowering her voice even more in the quiet night time of the NICU, all three of her loves giving into sleep. She reached up and stroked Arizona's cheek, and was rewarded with a lazy sleepy smile.

"Yeah," Arizona mumbled, quickly falling further into sleep. "We'll stay here. I'll wait up for you." The words were falling from her lips, a bit slurred and jumbled from the pull of sleep.

"Have a nap, sweetie." She whispered back, "I'll bring them here to meet Timmy, and then we can all go home."

"S'okay, I'm not tired." And before Callie could say anything else, Arizona fell asleep. She chuckled a bit and leaned forward to kiss both hers and Sofia's heads, whispering "I love you" to both of her girls.

She stopped for one last look into the NICU, one last glimpse of her family before she had to leave, and watched as Alex tucked a blanket around Sofia and Arizona, his touch just as gentle and soft as Sofia's had been when she kissed Timmy.

888*

April stood outside the NICU and watched as Arizona slept beside her sons bed, her daughter asleep in her arms. She hadn't stopped praying for them since Arizona had told them that the patient they were working on was carrying her baby. Alex had told them all that the baby boy was going to be okay, that he would be fine and good to go home in a couple days.

And she had prayed for Katie Nelson, who was also going to be fine, but her recovery would take a lot longer. Her husband and children were with her in the ICU, and now they were just waiting for her to wake up. Which Amelia had said she hoped was soon. The damage to her brain was minimal, and her internal injuries were severe, but they had managed to save her. Meredith had been right, Katie was theirs now, and even though she wouldn't be in their lives for long, she would be theirs for as long as she needed them to be.

But it was Jackson's night with Harriet, and so instead of going home, she stayed and she prayed. Matthew was off tonight as well, so he and Ruby were at home. When she'd called him to tell him that she needed to stay, to be here for Arizona, he'd understood and they had prayed for her friends together on the phone.

And since Callie had to go pick up their parents, April would stand here, sentinel and watching. None of them had known that this baby was coming, or that he'd been almost full term. And she honestly couldn't blame them for not telling them. After Samuel, and the way that Arizona had told Jackson about Harriet, she understood. The fear that something might go wrong, that their private heartbreak would become public gossip, whispered in the halls accompanied by looks of pity, was not easy to handle. It took her a long time to realize why Arizona had done what she'd done, and though it came up often as teasing between them, she had forgiven her friend for that transgression long ago.

And she'd already forgiven them for this one.

There had been a steady stream of their friends and coworkers over the last hour she'd stood here, people coming for a quick look at the surprise baby of two of their doctors. No one lingered for more than a moment, soft smiles and affectionate glances before they were on their way again. If they lingered too long, Karev would shoot them his best glare from his own sentinel post inside the NICU.

But then his face would soften and he'd offer her a small smile, before going back to his work inside the NICU. No one could glare and frighten with a single look like Alex Karev could. Not even Chief Bailey anymore.

"Kepner," Maggie Pierce said from beside her, her voice low and quiet in the darkened hall.

"Hello Dr. Pierce," she whispered back, turning back to gaze at Arizona and Sofia and their baby boy.

"Does he have a name?" Maggie asked, and though April knew that he probably did have one, she hadn't gone in to find out. That was why she'd come here in the first place, to see if they had named him yet, but Callie had just been leaving to go to the airport, so she'd waited outside.

"I think so, but I'm not sure what it would be. They were asleep when I got here, and I didn't want to go and ask." And then, as if fate had ordained it, a nurse walked to the bed and placed the blue naming card on the NICU bed, it was too far away to read from here, but both her and Maggie watched her retreat from the bed.

"I'm gonna go look." Maggie whispered conspiratorially, and she slunk into the NICU. April almost laughed at the way that Alex, from the other side of the room and unable to stop her, just glared and shook his head 'no' at her. But with a shrug of her shoulders and without even stopping to read the card, she did a quick u-turn and was back at her side outside of the NICU and Alex was still glaring at Maggie.

"Timothy Carlos Robbins-Torres." She whispered, and all April could do was smile.

"Kepner, do we need to throw a baby shower?" April hadn't considered that. Probably.

But she found herself nodding along anyway. "We'll plan for sometime next week, Karev says the baby can go home in a couple days, I don't know what their plans are for mat leave though, oh shush, here comes Callie."

Just then Callie was walking down the hall with the three of their parents. When they got near, both she and Maggie offered Callie hugs, which were returned and then she and Maggie left quickly, allowing the family to be alone.

888*

Arizona and Sofia were still asleep when they returned, and Callie could tell that all three of the parents were reluctant to wake them. She was also reluctant to wake them, as she was exhausted herself, but the joy and happiness that had suffused her soul when Alex had walked down that hall with their son was carrying her through. And even though Daniel had driven them back to the hospital from the airport, and had a quiet conversation in the front seat with her dad, and Barbara had just held her hand while they sat in the backseat quietly, she resisted sleep.

She wanted to get back to her family. She wanted to get back to her wife and her daughter and her son. All she'd told them on the ride back was that they had a grandson, a _nieto_ , that he was going to be okay. And though they'd asked, several times, she had refused to tell them the name that she and Arizona had chosen. She wanted to share that experience with Arizona.

But Arizona was still asleep, both her and Sofia snoring softly in the rocking chair, while Alex shuffled around. He was trying to look like he was working with the other babies in the NICU, but she could tell that his focus was completely on Arizona, Sofia, and Timmy. Arizona was right, he was a good choice for godfather.

Bringing their parents closer to the NICU bed, she quickly grabbed the name card someone had put there and shoved it into her pocket, she and Arizona would tell them together.

"Guys, this is your grandson," she whispered, watching as all three crouched over the bed and gazed at him.

"Honey, he looks just like Timothy." Barbara whispered to Daniel, the gruff older man nodded once, but Callie saw the way that he slipped his hand into his wife's, gripping her fingers tightly. While they whispered to each other, the three of them enjoying their grandson, she turned to wake Arizona.

Softly stroking her face, she watched as Arizona slowly roused from sleep. Her blue eyes blinking lazily, a small smile forming, the rest of her body didn't move, but her arms tightened around Sofia who was still snoring on.

"Hi," Callie whispered, moving in to press a small kiss to Arizona's temple.

"Hi." Her voice was still thick with sleep, but her eyes were focusing more.

"Our parents are here." She looked around Callie, to the three new grandparents fussing over their son, and her smile widened. Callie pulled the rolling stool closer to Arizona and sat beside her, slipping one hand around her wife's bicep, the other around Sofia, and leaned her head against the small shoulder. They just sat together and watched, radiant smiles making homes on three faces.

Eventually Barbara noticed that they were being watched, and her smile, if it was possible to do so, got even wider seeing that Arizona was awake. "Hi Sweets," she whispered.

"Hey momma bear," Arizona whispered back, fully awake now. "Hey daddy."

All three of them turned away from the baby and looked at the three of them. And it was Carlos who spoke. "Hello Arizona, please tell us the name of our grandson." Callie couldn't help but chuckle at the way Barbara lightly swatted his arm, the way Daniel just nodded beside Carlos, and the way that Arizona smiled at him.

"Hello Carlos, how are you?" Arizona teased back, offering her father a smile that he returned, his face softening just a bit.

"You didn't tell them?" Arizona asked her, turning to place a kiss on Callie's head.

"I was waiting for you," because their son was named after his uncle and both of their fathers, Callie wanted to share that with Arizona. They had told them Sofia's name over the phone, rather Arizona had before they'd come to visit after the car accident. This time, because he was named after them, and they were all safe and healthy and alive, and all three grandparents were here, they could do it together. Callie and Arizona.

"Go on then, Calliope." Arizona whispered, kissing her cheek this time.

So Callie disentangled her arms from her wife and daughter, and walked the few steps to her son. Slipping her hand into the NICU bed, she placed her finger in his hand, which he then squeezed (she knew, medically, that it was an instinctual response, but the part of her that was his mother, that this was her son, knew that he was squeezing because she was his mommy) she smiled.

"Guys, this is your grandson, Timothy Carlos Robbins-Torres. Timmy." And behind them, Arizona smiled widely, her arms wrapped around their daughter as both of their fathers widened their eyes, Daniel's jaw tightened with emotion, and Barbara took Callie into her arms quickly and tightly.

They didn't stay long after that, Daniel picked up Sofia from Arizona's arms, and their little girl barely even stirred as she slumped over Daniel's shoulder, still asleep. They needed to get her home and into her own bed, and because they only had one guest room now, Carlos said he'd go to a hotel because he couldn't stay long anyway, but he would meet them for breakfast and come back to see Timmy once again, Daniel and Barbara would stay at the house with Sofia.

Alex came over and hugged her, whispering a soft congratulations in her ear. She wanted to tell him about choosing him as godfather, but it could wait for another day. So she just watched as Arizona wound her arms around his neck, and asked "Did you eat?" He shook his head, so Callie pulled out her phone and ordered and paid for a pizza to be delivered to the hospital, because he whispered back "Go home Robbins, I've got your boy" so Callie hugged him again too.

After they both said goodnight to Timmy, they followed their parents with Daniel still carrying Sofia, down the hall. Arizona had her arm twined around Callie's, her other hand gripping Callie's forearm and her head resting on her shoulder as they walked.

"I love you Calliope Torres," She whispered, soft enough that Callie knew the words were meant only for her.

888*

"How come," Meredith's voice startled her, Arizona sucking in a deep breath and turning to look at her friend, "every time I come into a room that you two are in, one of you is staring at the other? Or you're making out? Why is that Robbins?"

Because her wife was miraculous. Breathtakingly stunning. And she was really good at kissing. Did Meredith really need an answer to that?

And really, how could she not stare at Calliope? Especially now, when she'd finally gotten their son back into her arms after he'd been passed around by their friends, everyone taking a moment to hold him and welcome him to their family. There she was, all black hair and beautiful, sitting cross legged on the couch, alone in her own world with Timmy, feeding him and holding him so reverently, ignoring the baby shower going on around her. She couldn't not stare.

"Hush Grey, that's the mother of my children you're talking about." She said, turning back to stare at Calliope some more.

"Do I need to yell at you too Robbins, about keeping this from us?" And just by her tone, Arizona turned back to look at Meredith, trying to judge what she was really asking. Finding nothing but the honesty of the question, she sighed.

"If you want to Meredith, you can." Because she wouldn't be the first. Alex had, and then quieted way down and softened when she put Timmy in his arms, and told him that he was now a godfather, that he could be mad at her and Callie, but he had to love Timmy. Though she'd seen on his face that he already did, heard it in his voice the first time he'd ever called her Arizona. April had also yelled, but it was kind of a whisper at the same time, and when Arizona had just looked at her, reminding her without words what happened the last time one of them had confided about a secret pregnancy and the fall out, April had just sighed and took Timmy.

"People need to prepare themselves for becoming a godparent, Arizona. You can't just spring a surprise baby on them and then ask them when they're holding the baby in their arms, giant blue eyes staring up at them. It's unfair." Arizona laughed at Meredith's words, but she too was staring at Callie and Timmy now.

"That's exactly what I did to Alex." She offered to Meredith, receiving a small in return. Arizona bumped her shoulder to Meredith's, turning back to stare some more at Callie and their son. "Go make your godson a onesie, Grey."

"Okay." Meredith patted her shoulder and left to join the rest of the quiet party.

She moved then too, going to join Callie on the couch with their son. Sofia was here too, but she was busy playing with Zola and Andrew on the floor. She couldn't tell what they were doing, but she was happy and smiling, so were Zola and Andrew, and that was good enough for her.

As soon as she sat beside her, Callie secured Timmy in one arm and wrapped the other around her shoulders, tugging her into an embrace. Arizona sunk willingly into it, tucking herself tightly to Callie's side when her wife turned to give her a soft kiss on the lips. She hummed in appreciation and snuggled in closer.

"When you hold that baby," Arizona whispered, looking down at Timmy who was now asleep, snuggled safely to Callie's chest, "You just keep making my dreams come true Calliope."

"You're a dream come true Arizona." Arizona smiled, the warmth rising through her at Callie's words. The only thing that could make this moment better was if Sofia were in her arms, but it would do nicely for the moment.

That was the new background picture on her phone. The four of them snuggled together sleeping on the couch. Her mother had texted it to her the day they brought Timmy home. Arizona was holding Timmy, cuddled into Callie's side, and Callie was holding Sofia. All four of their mouths were open in the unexpected family nap, and none of them had woken up when Barbara and Daniel had come home from grocery shopping, nor when they snapped the picture. In fact, none of them had woken up until Daniel came in and in the softest voice she'd ever heard from her father, whispered that it was time for dinner.

That moment, waking up with the three loves of her life, well only three of them had woken up at that moment, in her arms, that moment had been perfection.

"Do you think they've forgiven us, for keeping him a secret?" Arizona asked, lifting her hand to rest it on Timmy's stomach, just feeling the way it rose and fell with each tiny baby breath. There was something awe inspiring about the breaths of your own child. She'd done this to thousands of babies in her career, laid her hands on them as they slept, just feeling their tiny bodies be alive, but when she did it to her own children, well that was a feeling that nothing else compared to.

"They will, eventually." Callie replied, her gaze shifting around the room. People had been dropping in throughout the day, adding to the pile of gifts or the basket of cards, stopping to see their son and congratulate them. April had only called them yesterday to inform them of the baby shower, jokingly scolding them for keeping the baby a secret, saying if she'd had more notice she could have done better.

But the party was perfect. Their friends and coworkers, their family really, moving about the attendings lounge chatting with them and with each other, celebrating Callie and Arizona, and Sofia and Timmy.

"Hmm," was all she could respond with. They were already forgiven by the people that mattered.

"How's Katie doing?" Arizona asked. She had woken up and explained that she had been driving to school for a meeting with her study group when she'd gotten t-boned. She had been incredibly remorseful about endangering their baby, but both Callie and Arizona had reassured her that it hadn't been her fault, that she'd protected Timmy and the most important thing was that they were both alive. She'd cried when Callie brought Timmy to her, so she could see that he was indeed fine.

"She's doing well," Callie said, "Our insurance wants to move her to a rehab facility on the other side of the city next week. Meredith and Amelia have both said that she can be discharged, so they're just waiting for space to open up."

"That's good." Arizona replied.

Then they sat together in quiet for a little while, Arizona resting against her wife. Her eyes shifting between her sleeping son and her smiling and laughing daughter. She hadn't anticipated that this is what her life would be like. These people, these miraculously beautiful and broken people, who helped hold each other together and who helped fix each other. They had become her family over the last eleven years.

And then there was Callie. Her wife, Calliope Torres. Who had helped make Seattle home rather than just a step in career, had given her the family she would never have dreamed of, given her a daughter and a son, had given herself in so many different and little and big ways.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Calliope." She whispered, reaching up to turn Callie's face into hers, to give her another soft kiss, to try once again to show her with actions how much Callie meant to her. "You and Timmy and Sofia."

"I know," was Callie's response, a smile gracing her lips as she kissed back. "You were a hot mess when you met me."

"I was being serious," she said, teasing back.

"I know," her wife said again. "So was I."

"You're the worst."

"Yeah, but you love me anyway."

And she did.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Thanks for the reviews, y'all are top notch.**

It was late when Arizona finally walked into their house, the lights were off, except for the small night lights that lined the hallway. Ostensibly they were for Sofia's benefit, to guide their daughter to the bathroom at night, but in reality Arizona had set them up for herself. Calliope, in all her infinite wifely wisdom, had only quirked an eyebrow but said nothing when Arizona had averted her gaze. The dark was scary. And she was a grown woman, she should not be afraid of the dark.

And she wasn't… really. Well she was, but she braved it when it came.

But she preferred the soft yellow light. If someone were to ask her, she would be honest with only Sofia and now Timmy, she would lie. She would say that children leave toys laying around, even though Callie was diligent about picking them up, and what with her prosthetic leg everything was a bit more of a tripping hazard. But Sofia rarely left her toys laying around.

The house was quiet, but from their room, she could hear Calliope singing to Timmy. " _Love of mine, someday you will die. But I'll be close behind, and I'll follow you into the dark."_ How very apropos.

She sighed, shaking her head, a smile forming on her lips, as the continued cadence of Calliope's soft voice filtered out of their room.

The first time she'd heard Callie sing that song to Sofia, she'd been horrified. Mortified because of the content of the lyrics, and as soon as she'd finished, because honestly Arizona had been transfixed by Callie, and left Sofia's room, their first whispered argument as mothers happened. How could she sing that song, with those lyrics, to their baby girl. And though she'd whisper yelled at Callie that night, and still found it extremely morbid, every time that song came along in the jukebox hero that was her wife, she still stopped and listened.

Stopping at Sofia's room " _If there's no one beside you when your soul embarks, then I'll follow you into the dark,"_ flowing softly down the hall from her room. Sofia was sprawled across the blankets, one foot stubbornly poking out from under her pink blanket. Arizona knew that even if she covered Sofia's foot, within minutes it would stick back out.

And just as she had known that, she knew that she would stand in the doorway to watch Callie sing this terrible song to Sofia every single time she heard the now familiar words, she would watch her wife sing it to Timmy.

The door was open and the room was lit softly by the bedside lamp. Callie had her back to her, so Arizona could just stand and watch as she swayed Timmy. When she finished the song " _The time for sleep is now, but it's nothing to cry about 'Cause we'll hold each other soon in the blackest of rooms,"_ Arizona finally stepped into the room and moved as fast as she could to Callie.

As Arizona slid her hands up Callie's arms and placed a soft kiss to her right shoulder blade, she wrapped her arm around her wife's shoulder and leaned around the opposite to look at Timmy. His big blue eyes, eyes that Callie had sleepily informed her displaced her own blue eyes as Callie's favourite blue eyes, were gazing up at his mommy. While she'd scoffed in mock indignation, secretly Arizona had agreed.

"Hey," she whispered, pressing another kiss to Callie's shoulder.

"Hey," Callie whispered back, not turning to look at her, having eyes only for their son.

"I can't believe you still sing that horrid song to our children." She said with a slight pinch to Callie's side where her hand rested.

"I only sing it to them when they're babies, or asleep, or not paying attention!" Callie replied, tightening her grip on Timmy with her left hand so she could wrap Arizona in her right. Arizona sunk into her wife's side, and moved when Callie started to sway again.

"One day Calliope, one day they will be listening to you and they'll know and understand, and then where will you be? Huh? Stuck explaining to your children about death and all that stuff." This was almost the exact same thing she'd said when they first had this argument. Though it wasn't even really an argument this time, or then.

"If that happens, I'll just send them to momma and leave it to you."

Arizona couldn't help the huff that escaped her. Callie just smiled down at her, still swaying to the silence of the house and some internal music that no one else could hear.

"Give me my baby." She demanded softly as Callie was already transferring their son into her arms. She was technically supposed to be on mat leave right now, she and Callie had decided to take four weeks together and then trade off weeks for the next month so that Timmy didn't have to go to daycare until the two month mark, but Alex had called in a favour and so she'd gone in. And then an emergency happened, and so on.

They both knew how their lives were going to go when they became surgeons. The same thing had happened to Callie the previous week, except she went in as a favour to Hunt because there was a new veteran that needed them.

They had both needed a shove out the door. Both had cried in the car for five minutes before they even turned it on. Both had continued to cry until they parked at the hospital.

But now Timmy was falling asleep in her arms. His soft dark blue eyes were shifting closed and his mouth worked the pacifier slower and slower until he finally slipped into sleep. And Arizona cried again. But this time as she sobbed silently, Callie was there, the strong arms of her wife were holding her gently, careful of their son between them, whispering in her ear and softly kissing her cheek. She knew she should go put Timmy in his crib, knew that he was here and healthy and he was theirs, but she had missed him, missed all of them so much.

She'd forgotten this part of having a baby. The having to leave them. Despite the hellish situation Sofia had been in after birth, those first three months were heaven being able to just go to the NICU to just look at her. Between her and Mark, Sofia hadn't spent a night on her own for the first three months of her life. She had practically lived at the hospital during that time too, either sleeping in the NICU or Callie's room. But when they'd been able to go home, both Callie and Sofia, having to leave them behind even for the day had been heartbreaking. She'd cried then, too.

"Crack baby, right?" Callie whispered, once Arizona's tears had slowed, when she was just regular crying and no longer sobbing.

"Don't call him that." She whispered, to which Callie laughed.

Whipping her head up she just looked at Callie who now had her hand to her mouth, looking like she was trying desperately not to laugh out loud again.

Arizona could only stare in fascination, and a lot of confusion, as Callie's entire body practically shook as she tried not to laugh. Finally, after long moments of shaking, she seemed to compose herself. "I called Sofia that once, and that's exactly what Mark said."

"Why do you call your babies horrible names?"

"Because they're like crack Arizona! Come on, admit that you're addicted to this baby. To the way he smells and the way he's so soft and squishy, and then he looks at you with those ridiculously blue eyes, and I swear to god we will be keeping the girls or boys away with sticks cause he's gorgeous. He is crack in baby form."

And Arizona found herself nodding. She knew exactly what Callie was saying. She had been addicted to Sofia when she was a baby. She couldn't count the times that she'd been sitting in Sofia's room and just staring. Callie had caught her far less than she'd actually done it, and it had been the same with Timmy. She'd wait until Callie had fallen asleep and then she'd slip out of bed and just sit in the rocking chair and watch them, or place her hand on their stomachs to feel them breathe.

"Let's go put him down, and then we can go to bed, hmm?" Callie asked, leaning forward and kissing Arizona's temple. Her tears had stopped over the last few minutes, and they hadn't bothered Timmy as her chest shook with them, and Callie's arms around her. But she didn't want to let him go just yet.

"Do I have to?" She asked quietly, knowing that she did.

"Five more minutes, Mrs. Robbins." Joy filled her at that.

What was supposed to be five minutes, turned into twenty as she held the sleeping baby, nestled against Callie's chest, those strong arms wrapped around her once again. And then they did put Timmy into his crib, so far away, thirty-seven steps, in his nursery down the hall, Callie had double checked the monitors while Arizona stared down at Timmy. When she'd placed him on his back, his tiny arms stretched above his head but he hadn't woken up, just slept on.

Callie had to practically drag her from the room, Arizona felt the call of just watching him sleep.

When they were finished with their night time routines and lying in bed together, a peacefulness that Arizona hadn't known possible surrounded her. Sofia and Timmy, her children, were asleep down the hall from them, and she was lying in bed with her wife, curled into her side their fingers clasped between them while Callie's other hand rested on her left leg, the mindless patterns she was tracing soothing Arizona.

"I had never thought that I was cut out to be a mom," she whispered to Callie's chest, pressing a small kiss to the exposed skin above her loose sleep shirt. "Even after you told me you were pregnant and asked me if I was in, I was unsure about myself. I liked kids, I think kids are great. But I also really liked giving them back, you know? I was so serious about liking my life back then, I liked who I was before I met you. The player I used to be, the one who could drop everything to be at the hospital, befriend the kid, do the surgery, and then leave them. There was no commitment to my life then, and that's the way I liked it."

She could hear the way Callie's voice held tension as she asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

Pressing another kiss to the exposed shoulder, she turned in Callie's embrace to look up at her wife, to offer her a reassuring smile. Callie returned it hesitantly.

"I knew I was a mom from the second we heard Sofia's heartbeat. I knew it. I almost lost her, and you, and it broke me a little. But I was still unsure about myself. I loved her from that first heartbeat, I loved watching her grow for the next fifteen weeks. But then… you know… car crash. And then she had to fight, and you had to fight, and everything in me was telling me that I couldn't do it. I mean I still loved her, the problem wasn't that I didn't love her, I just was… I don't know. Lacking confidence, I guess."

At that Callie tightened her arm around Arizona and gave a real smile.

"What if I loved her too much? What if I didn't love her enough? What if I did something and ruined her childhood? A million different little things. But the moment I knew that I was cut out to be a mom, that I was going to be good at it, that I was going to love and enjoy this responsibility, was the first night we brought her home. Do you remember?"

"Yes," Callie replied, "I found you in her room. I'd woken up and you were gone, and the sheets were cold. Like you'd been gone for a long time."

"Yeah, I waited until you fell asleep then I counted out loud to a hundred, and then I stayed in her room. I just watched her. It wasn't like I didn't do it a bunch when she was in the NICU, I did it every other night. And even on nights when Mark was there and I was supposed to be with you, I'd wait until you fell asleep and then I'd sneak away to the NICU."

"But that first night at home, I wasn't a doctor anymore. She was in my NICU, I was still Dr. Robbins, I think I kind of was thinking that it was okay to be both, doctor and mom. But then she was at home and I was just… me. I was Arizona, I was mom. And I just put my hand on her tummy and I felt it rise and fall and rise and fall and I was going to be a good mom."

They lay in silence for a while, their house quiet. All Arizona could feel was the way that Callie's heartbeat was steady under her cheek, could feel they way that Callie's fingers played with her own and danced across her knuckles and fingertips, could feel the warmth of her wife's calves as she pressed her cold toes against them.

How she had never pictured this as her future astounded her. Before she'd met Callie, this hadn't ever been something she'd imagined for herself. The wife, the children, the house. When she was young and discovering that she was attracted to women, it was illegal for gay people to get married. It was practically illegal to be gay. She had resigned herself to a marriageless and childless future. Then in college and med school and residency, she'd found it pretty easy to give up those dreams because she could get women to fall at her feet, and it was just as easy to cast them aside after a night or two so she could focus on being a doctor. That was really her only dream, being a doctor.

But then she'd met Callie.

Calliope.

And the kids thing, well she could leave it. They were young and hot, and she had just wanted Calliope. And she'd ended it, ended them, because even though she didn't want kids, she wanted Calliope to have them. But then Callie had been right, how she hadn't really tried to change for her. But then the shooting… well maybe it wasn't the most healthy of reconciliations, but it had shown Arizona that her desire for Callie, for her happiness, she could change. And she had, even though she doubted herself, she felt that want, that need. For kids, for Callie's kids.

"What are you thinking about so hard down there?" Callie asked, interrupting her train of thought.

"Oh you know, the usual." She teased.

"Mmm, the usual, eh." Callie teased back.

"Three guesses, Calliope."

"Uhh, you're thinking about donuts?" Callie teased again.

"Do people ever stop thinking about donuts?" Because Arizona knew she didn't.

"So no, okay. Second guess… hmm… are you thinking about tiny, _tiny_ , and dirty lingerie?"

"Well I am now." And she pushed herself up from Callie's embrace and moved to hover over her wife. Smiling down at Callie, her brown eyes twinkling and a devilish grin on her face, Arizona slowly lowered herself so she was laying on top of Callie who had spread her knees wide to cradle Arizona with her thighs. Both of them sighing into the embrace, Arizona brought their lips together for a languid and deep kiss.

Finally breaking apart, Arizona didn't move herself far, just enough that she was leaning slightly up on her arms, Callie's legs and arms wrapped around her. "But no, that wasn't what I was thinking."

"Were you thinking that it's too bad we didn't buy a crib that has wheels so we could bring Timmy in here and you could watch him sleep from the comfort of your own bed?"

"No, I wasn't thinking that, but it sounds wonderful." And it did. With her prosthetic, she struggled a bit, emotionally and physically, with not being able to have full and fast movement. She was completely comfortable with her ability to put the leg on quickly and rush to Timmy or Sofia in an emergency, and was even comfortable with the little bit of running she did in the ER and for 911 pages. But her leg did get sore, and even the few long nights she'd spent watching Timmy sleep the last three weeks, had been a lot.

"Well then you're in luck, because I did buy that crib."

"You did?" And Arizona could hear the wonder in her own voice.

"You want me to get him, you have to tell me what you were thinking about. Deal?"

Arizona nodded feverently, rolling off Callie so she could go get their son. She left the room and came back with a still sleeping Timmy and just gave her a questioning look when he was placed in her arms. "The wheels are retractable, and I didn't want to chance the movement waking him. I'll be right back."

She disappeared out the door again, and Arizona could hear faint Spanish swearing and eventually the sound of plastic wheels on hardwood. And then Callie was back with the crib, retracting the wheels and removing Timmy from her arms to put him back in the crib.

Callie had put the crib next to Arizona's side of the bed, and instead of walking around to her side to get in, just climbed and crawled over Arizona, both of them giggling, as Callie settled behind her, Arizona's back pressed tightly to Callie's front. She reached for Callie's hand and entwined their fingers, holding their joined hands by her heart as Callie's head settled on the same pillow she was using.

From this spot she could see Timmy perfectly, his tiny arms once again stretched out above his head, still sleeping soundly. He'd probably wake in a couple hours, but Arizona could see the care that Callie took when she brought the crib in. There was still room for her to maneuver between it and the bed so she had room to grab her prosthetic and could put it on.

And so she answered Callie honestly, "I was thinking about how much I love you."

"Hmm," was Callie's response, her nose rubbing against Arizona's shoulder.

"You put him on my side, you made sure I had room to get my leg, and you are being the big spoon because you know I wanted to watch him."

"I'm being the big spoon because when you are, you stick your cold nose in my neck."

"It's not my fault you're so warm all the time. It's like you brought Miami to our bed in your skin. You're hot."

"Mmm, you're hot." And they both fell into giggles, Callie pressing a warm open mouthed kiss to the slope of her neck.

"No but really, I do love you Calliope."

"I love you too, Arizona. You and your cold nose and your cold toes."

888*

Technically it was Arizona's week to be off with Timmy, but here Callie was in the gallery watching her wife operate with Addison and members of the F.A.C.S. observing. Nicole Herman was there as well, as were two fetal surgeons from New York. Addison and Arizona were performing the operation and the other three were in the background, answering the questions that were thrown their way. Even though she was blind, Callie noticed the way that Herman's eyes tracked whoever was speaking, and when there was a bit of quiet her focus would be on the surgery or Arizona.

Up in the gallery the rest of the board was there, and it was packed with residents and other surgeons because this was going to be a big win for their hospital if Arizona and Addison were successful, and Callie believed that they would be. Her wife, her best friend, and the other three surgeons had spent the last week camped out in her and Arizona's kitchen, going over everything they knew of the boards and OB and peds and working on all the possibilities of what could be asked, choosing cases to present as board sessions, trying to make their speciality be its own certification.

When Addison had arrived eight days ago, she and Callie had gone out to dinner while Arizona stayed home with their children, as well as Addie's son Henry, and then she'd been ignored. Well, that wasn't the right word, she was lovingly forgotten as Arizona and Addison worked diligently watching surgical films and preparing their case for the F.A.C.S.. This was the first of three surgeries that the four doctors would perform here, Arizona and Dr. Hendricks and then Addison and Dr. Giles, and then they would find out if they would be granted position at the boards.

If they were, every fetal surgeon in the country would take on two fellows next year, and then the year after Arizona and Addison would begin to hold sessions at the boards to begin certifying the applicants. There had been multiple nights where Callie would cook dinner for the five surgeons, and just listen as they talked quietly around the table, not even stopping to work while they ate. She had wrangled the three children that lived in her house, fed them, bathed them, rocked their infant son, and ferried Sofia to school and day care, and just let them work.

And though her wife was amazing, was literally changing medicine down in the OR, all Callie could think about was sex. It had been seven weeks of no sex, and she was losing her mind. There had just never been the right time, or enough time. After Timmy was born, one of them had stayed in the NICU with him, trading off the two nights that he was there, and then they brought him home and Barbara and Daniel were there, and then they had a newborn and they were both exhausted. Then they had started work up again and were exhausted in a different way. Then Addison and Herman and Giles and Hendricks had shown up and all Arizona did was crawl into bed at ungodly hours, wrap herself around Callie and fall asleep before Callie could say a word.

She was horny. She'd masturbated, Arizona's name still falling from her lips as she came, but it hadn't done really anything to sate her.

And there Arizona was, all teacher-y and hot and commanding, proud and sure of her words and actions, sexy with that stupid butterfly scrub cap which she was hooked on. She obsessed over that scrub cap. She obsessed over it. _Maybe I can convince her to wear it during sex, I hate it. I hate it I hate it I hate it, but mostly I hate how much I love it. God that would be amazing._

"Hey," She whispered to Meredith, who was sitting beside her holding Timmy.

"What's up?" Meredith asked, Callie watched the way that Timmy lounged on Meredith's lap, his chubby cheeks stretched into a smile. Not only had her son inherited his mother's blue eyes, but it looked like he was going to get her dimples too, and that was just devastating because she was stretched way too thin between Arizona and Sofia already, the way they had her wrapped around their fingers. But now Timmy, please. Crack. Baby.

"You're off friday right? Like, not even on call?" She asked. Friday was hers and Arizona's first anniversary. It was the perfect time to have sex with her wife. Well, every time was the perfect time to have sex with her wife, but this was an even more perfect time because they'd gotten married a year ago.

And the F.A.C.S. stuff would be done by then, so Addison and Henry would go back to LA and it would be just the four of them in the house again, but really, she had plans. Plans that would be better suited if there were no children in her home. She and Arizona could do quiet, could be quiet and fast and quick, when the children were in the house, could come with the other's hand held tightly over mouths to ensure that they weren't loud. Or too loud.

But her plans involved screaming. And swearing. And screaming swear words. And moaning and groaning and whimpering and begging and pleading.

"Yes," Meredith began, and Callie had to focus on her again, the thoughts of sex and Arizona swirling. Even shaking her head didn't dislodge them. "I am, why?"

Casting a quick glance around the packed gallery, not wanting to voice her thoughts aloud, she owned this hospital after all, she looked back at Meredith and waited until her friend caught her eye.

Giving Meredith a pointed look, she lowered her voice and whispered, "I need a cheeseburger."

"That sounds fine, I'll just ask Maggie to watch the kids." Meredith replied, and Callie groaned because she'd completely missed the point. When she'd come back almost two years ago she and Meredith had resumed their weekly cheeseburger and tequila dates, they hadn't had one in a while because of the baby and now this thing with the F.A.C.S. but Callie had hoped she'd get the point.

"No, I mean," and she looked pointedly at Arizona who was now closing in surgery, and then back to Meredith, raising her eyebrow to hopefully make her point, "I _need_ ," she stressed with another look at Arizona, "a cheeseburger."

And Meredith just stared at her. But it was Alex who spoke from Meredith's other side, and thankfully his voice was low, "Dude, she's talking about sex."

And while Callie's cheeks burned with embarrassment, Meredith whispered back "Oh… you need a cheeseburger."

"Robbins asked me and Jo to take the kids this morning," Alex said, leaning over Timmy and Meredith to whisper to Callie, "but she didn't beat around the freaking bush. Stupid metaphors, she was all, 'Alex take my children because I need to have sex with my wife,' but Jo and I are working so Kepner's taking them."

At Meredith's laugh, the entire gallery turned to look at them and Callie felt her ears burn as they received glares and raised eyebrows. But below them in the ER the surgery was finished and they were all getting ready to leave, and she made a decision. Friday would still be special, but she needed _her cheeseburger_ right now.

Turning back to Meredith, "Take Timmy back to daycare for me," and she left without a backward glance, knowing that Meredith or Alex would take Timmy back to daycare. They were both on the approved check out list for Sofia and Timmy, and that he was safe with them. As she left the gallery she heard Alex call "Enjoy your lunch!" and both of their accompanying laughter.

Rushing down the stairs she found Arizona standing with the other fetal surgeons and the people from the boards. She knew that Arizona was done for the day, the next two surgeries being scheduled for tomorrow, but she wasn't sure if Arizona needed to plan some more. She sure hoped not.

Walking up to the group, she tried to control her voice and her posture, she slipped her hand down Arizona's arm and asked "Can I borrow Dr. Robbins for a minute?"

They all nodded, so Callie gripped her hand and pulled her to the nurses station, it offered them a bit of privacy, but it was all horny Callie could do not to kiss her. "You're done for the day?" she whispered, and she could hear the arousal crack her voice, felt the way the flush of it crawled up her chest and back, watched the way it tinged Arizona's cheeks.

"Almost, Arthur and I, Dr. Hendricks and I were planning to go over our surgery in a couple hours." Callie could do a lot to Arizona in a couple hours. Arizona could do a lot to Callie in a couple hours and she felt the desire burn and pool in her core, douse her underwear with it.

Taking in the flushed cheeks of her wife, blue eyes darkening with arousal, that stupid and stupidly sexy butterfly scrub cap on, feeling the way that Arizona gripped her fingers tightly, she knew they were on the same page. "I'll be right back," Arizona whispered.

Then Callie watched as Arizona walked back to the group of surgeons and continued to watch as Arizona gestured vaguely in her direction. She didn't know what her wife was saying to them, but she saw the smirk rise on Nicole Herman's face and could read Addison when she mouthed " _vagina monologues"_ at her. Luckily the people from the board and Hendricks and Giles seemed clueless, but as Arizona walked back to her, hips swaying in a sultry way, a salacious grin on that perfect face, Callie didn't care, just turned to follow Arizona as she made her way towards the elevator.

Unfortunately they were not alone in the elevator, but it was the longest short ride of her life as they made their way up to the peds and OB floor where Arizona's office was. Once they were off the elevator Arizona reached up to loosen the ties at the back of her scrub cap, but Callie quickly reached up to stop her, grabbing her hands and whispering "Leave it on."

Arizona just looked at her and quickened her pace towards her office.

They wasted no time in coming together roughly, hands rough on bodies as Callie's lab coat was pushed off and the light blue surgical coat was practically ripped from Arizona's small frame. The kiss they shared was equally coarse, a mash of lips and teeth, hurried and full of desire and want.

Without breaking the union of their lips and bodies, Callie fumbled with and finally caught the lock on the door, quickly grabbing the blonde's hips and pushing her towards the desk. She felt more than heard Arizona's moan as she lifted her wife to sit on the desk. Callie wasted no time in parting Arizona's things and stepping between them, pulling Arizona's pody precariously close to the edge of the desk and pressing herself against her wife.

"God I missed this," Arizona husked in her ear as Callie moved to the spot just behind her left ear, "I missed you."

"Mmm," Callie hummed to the spot, not taking her lips off her wife's skin. The scrub cap had its benefits, there was none of the blonde hair she loved to tangle her fingers in to get in the way. It gave Callie unlimited access to Arizona's neck.

"I touched myself the other day," Arizona groaned quietly as Callie bit that spot and immediately soothed it with her tongue, her fingers roaming up the smooth skin of Arizona's back under her scrub top, "thinking about you."

Callie felt another rush of arousal shoot through her and moved back to take Arizona's lips in hers. She forced her tongue into Arizona's mouth and moaned as Arizona battled her for dominance in this exchange. She wasn't going to give it up though, and when she felt Arizona's hand slip into the front of her scrub pants and panties at the same time, she shuddered with arousal, this wouldn't take long. For either of them.

She did the same to Arizona, and at the same time as her fingers slipped into the hot and wet and arousal swollen core of her wife, Arizona's fingers slipped into her and their matching groans slipped between their joined mouths breaking the quiet of the room.

In no time at all, Callie felt her orgasm, long overdue from the hands and fingers and mouth of her wife, rushing towards her. She could feel Arizona's building as well, the way her hips rocked against her hand and her kiss became choppy and fumbling.

When Callie pressed her thumb against Arizona's swollen clit, Arizona broke from her lips and buried her face in Callie's shoulder, fisting her scrub top and biting down on the material there, the whimpers from her throat indicating that she was close.

"Come for me Arizona," she groaned into the quiet of the room, breaking the sounds of rough breathing and sex. "Don't wait for me, let go."

And it was with a couple more thrusts of her fingers and rough presses of her thumb that Arizona came undone in her arms, the movements of her wife against her own clit jumpy and erratic sending Callie over the edge as well, her own free hand wrapped around and above Arizona's shoulder so she could bite on her own knuckle to stop herself from calling Arizona's name.

Long moments later, wet fingers and thumbs slipped out and away from centres and arms wrapped tightly around backs and waists and necks. Arizona still hadn't moved her head from it's spot on Callie's neck, and she just held on tighter as Arizona's and her own breathing finally slowed, from shallow and ragged to deep and even.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Sorry about the wait, I am employed again.**

Arizona couldn't believe she was doing this. Again. Without Callie holding her up this time. She knew why she was doing this but she couldn't believe it. Alex had given her his best puppy dog eyes, _he's been around children too much,_ and promised a weekend of free babysitting. Not that he and Jo charged them anyway, and Callie would still insist on paying for pizza and beer and food, but Arizona was quickly coming to the realization that she should have held out for two weekends. Or three.

Because she did not want to be sitting in this sports store, with the extremely helpful young man staring a little dumbfounded at her prosthetic. It was the high-tech metal and carbon fibre one that Callie had made for her (and was the source of her first Catherine Fox nomination) because it had all the bells and whistles. Little springs so it gave a natural bounce, knee and ankle joints for a smoother stride, and Callie had measured her calf and her ankle and her knee on her right leg so she could 3D print it too perfection. And Dr. Callie Torres had succeeded. Except for one large and glaringly obvious fault.

It was black.

Arizona had wanted pink, and Sofia had agreed with her much to Callie's chagrin, but black and blue it was. And he was just staring at it. She had gotten used to the staring, the way that people did that quick double take when they caught a glimpse of it. Children were great, they were excited and impressed and wanted to touch it and had a million questions that all involved superpowers of some sort. Adults… adults were the worst. Their questions involved bringing up trauma, and while she could explain what had happened with ease now, it was the pity she couldn't stand.

"I've never done this for someone with a prosthetic before." The young man, Jason, said, still staring.

She cleared her throat and he blushed as he finally made eye contact, so she offered him a smile so he would know that she wasn't upset or angry. It seemed to calm him down a bit, and Arizona was thankful.

"Did you use them before…" Kids and teenagers did this, where they started to ask the difficult questions, but trailed off before they got to the hard part. The hard part of 'before you lost your leg.'

As if she'd actually lost it and just hadn't looked hard enough for it. Like she'd find it under the bed tomorrow, or tucked into the corner. (Though, and she hadn't told Callie this, or anyone, once after the divorce and Sofia was at her house, she'd played hide and seek with it, and then couldn't remember where she'd hid it. Luckily she had an extra leg in the car, it was just a pain to hobble out on the crutches to grab it.)

"I did, actually, the kids loved it."

"Oh! You have kids?" Jason's enthusiasm returned at the much safer subject.

"I do, yes. But not my own kids, I'm a pediatric surgeon and I'd wear them in the hospital." Which is where she was going to go now, with new heely's for her and a young boy who'd recently lost his own leg due to a car accident.

Which was how Alex had roped her into this. She and Addison had been successful getting the go ahead from the F.A.C.S. and so she was pulling back from peds cases to focus more on getting the funding for two fellows. It would be a lot of work to ensure that they had the ability to bring in patients from around the west-coast, to both her and Addison, so that there would be enough work for them to train four surgeons. Pulling back on peds gave her that time.

But for this, watching the young boy cry into his mother's shoulder during his final prosthetics appointment, with David Moore her own prosthetist, and the way that Alex had looked at her, she could make the time for this boy. And for herself, really.

"Oh, cool!" Jason said, "So is this the first time you're trying again, you know, after?"

They were in front of the wall of heely's now. The range and scope of the shoes not as large as it once was, but still pretty impressive. She needed new ones because the last time she had done this she and Callie had still been married, and when she'd tried before she had Callie's arms around her. But then the divorce happened and she'd thrown them out. For various reasons, but now she needed new ones.

Her therapist had told her, many times (after the amputation, before the divorce, after the divorce, and like thirty minutes ago when she called and told him what was happening now) that she should at least try. For herself. To show herself that she could do it, and do it alone. This time was for her and Greg, the boy who had loved his heely's probably more than she had loved hers. Her therapist said that doing it for Greg would also be doing it for herself. She didn't see the logic in that, but knowing that she wasn't going to have Callie's arms around her this time gave her a feeling of individuality. And also a little bit of anxiety.

So she and Greg would learn together. Learn again. Learn again together.

Suddenly she realized that she should probably also go buy them both wrist guards, because if Callie found out that she'd done this without a safety net, Callie would probably kick her ass. Even if she'd just fallen on it a dozen times trying to roll down the hallway again.

"That's an involved story, Jason." She finally replied. "But I need two pairs, one for me a size 7, and a children's size 8."

"Okay then." They chose colours, Greg's favourite was blue, and she chose white and blue (to match the leg), and Jason had wrapped them and she had paid, but Arizona was almost out the door before Jason called her back.

"I'm glad you're trying again, Dr. Robbins." He kicked his own wheels out and rolled away from her, on to the next customer with a wave over his shoulder. She was glad too.

8*

"Okay, Greg. Are you ready?" She asked the boy next to her. He looked as afraid as she felt. It had been a long day already, of emotion and fear and trepidation for Arizona. But she could see that Greg needed this as much as she did.

Alex and Greg's mother were here, in the long peds hallway that was quite busy, but barring an emergency elsewhere in the hospital, she and Greg would have a lot of space to figure this out. The nurses and orderlies on the floor were all watching them as well. She hadn't skated down this hallway in years, and though there were some faces here that never knew that people used to call her 'Roller Girl' the look on Alex's face had made them pay attention.

"No, Dr. Robbins. Well… maybe. I'm scared." He said, looking at his shoes.

They were both wearing shorts to show off their prosthetics and real legs. Both with black metal and carbon fibre appendages, her left and his right. She didn't normally walk around the hospital like this. Exposed and vulnerable, the leg visible to strangers and kids and parents alike. Around her family, of course. Callie had even once called her sexy because of it. Sofia didn't care, and Timmy was too young to care, but he'd grow up knowing her with one leg, it wouldn't be strange to him. And he'd get the full story when he was old enough to understand and ask, just like Sofia. Around her friends too, she didn't care.

But Greg had asked. These weren't even her shorts. They were Alex's from his gym bag. They'd had to tie a knot in the waist so they'd stay up, but at least they were clean. But as comfortable as she was with the staring, Greg was not. He was getting used to it, had the rest of his life to do so, and so for this little adventure of theirs, she would take the stares.

"I think you should call me Arizona." She replied, offering the boy a small smile.

"That's a state." He said with a laugh that she couldn't help but return.

"It's also my name," she said, bumping his shoulder with her arm.

"You're named after a state? I was named after my dad." They both laughed again, and Arizona could feel the tension dissipating from Greg, and hers along with it. If he needed this time to compose himself, she would let him take it. She needed it too. Even under the watchful eye of Alex and Greg's mother.

"Actually, I was named after a battleship."

"Oh." Greg looked from her to his shoes again, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Dr. Arizona, why did this happen to me?"

 _How the hell was she supposed to answer that?_

"I don't know buddy." Was all she could say as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. He leant into the hug. They sat that way, side by side for several long minutes under the careful watch of Alex and Greg's mom, the nurses and orderlies shooting them quick glances every now and then.

"Will it always be this hard?" What is with this kid. But at least this one she could answer.

"No, Greg. It won't be. I'm not going to lie and tell you that it will be easy, cause it won't be. People are going to stare at you all the time. Grown-ups and kids, and sometimes you'll just want to pull your hair out and scream at them, but you shouldn't, you know that right?" He nodded, his brown eyes fixed on her. "And you're just a kid, you'll probably have to go through getting a new leg every couple years and learning to do everything over again, which sucks right?"

"Yeah," he nodded again, and Arizona softened.

"But the important thing to remember, is that when you fall, you get right back up. Even if you don't want to, even if you just want to lay down and cry. You have to get back up."

"Did you fall?"

"I did. A lot."

"And you got back up?"

"I'm here with you right now, right?" It was Greg that hugged her this time. "And we're gonna fall again, probably a lot, but Dr. Alex and your mom, they'll be here to help us back up if we need."

And suddenly she wished Callie were here. Because that was the thing she had learned the most in those awful months after the crash. Sometimes you needed help. Sometimes she needed help, and she was too proud to admit it, to admit weakness. And though they were strictly talking about physical help and standing back up, she hoped that one day Greg would be able to learn about emotionally asking for help.

"Okay Dr. Arizona, I'm ready now." Greg let go of her and stood. He'd lost his leg three months ago and was a lot steadier than she had been at that point. _Kids are resilient,_ her own words came back to her. Greg would be okay, eventually, just as she was now. And she was going to help him reclaim this small part of himself, and she was going to help herself do it as well.

A little more than an hour later, all of Greg's initial hesitation was gone, as he was rolling down the hall smoothly and quickly. It was a little wobbly, and probably not as smooth and quick as he would have liked, but he was doing it. Arizona had watched him fall and get up quickly multiple times. The first few times he'd accepted his mother's help, or Arizona's, but eventually he'd just started pushing himself back up and trying again.

But she wasn't that close yet. She'd managed a few feet before she fell again. Her wrists, despite the wrist guards, were sore from the dozens of times she'd fallen and caught herself. Her ass was sore, her hips were sore. She was just sore. When she had first learned to use the shoes there had been a similar learning curve, but she'd mastered it much quicker than this. Arizona wanted to say that it was because she was much younger then, and much more confident, but the truth was that she still felt the fear of falling and getting hurt. Of being embarrassed.

She shouldn't be, she knew. No one in the hallway was judging her.

Sitting on the floor after her most recent spill, she watched as Greg glided up and down the hallway, his infectious laugh filling the hall with joy and excitement. Alex looked at her with a quirked eyebrow, and she could see several of her other friends milling about the nurses station behind him. She shook her head no, she didn't need his help getting up again. After Greg had started doing it on his own, she got up herself too. She just needed a minute.

Greg skated up to her, his smile dimming a bit as he looked down on her. "Are you okay Dr. Arizona." Concern laced his tone, and she smiled back at him.

"I'm old you know, this has been a work out." She said, deflecting his concern.

But then she watched as he awkwardly sat on the floor beside her, placing his fingers over her own. And they sat that way for long moments, both just breathing and looking around. Over at the nurses station Alex and April were watching, the same concern as Greg's lacing their features.

"Dr. Arizona?" Greg started, looking from all the adults gathered watching them. "Are you scared?"

"Yes," she answered honestly.

"Of falling?"

"No, because we'll get back up, right?"

"Right." He nodded again.

Arizona watched as Greg stood up and offered her his own little hand, a new smile stretching his cheeks. She didn't need his help to get up, but holding his hand made it harder for her to stand on her own, but she did it. And they held hands for another moment before he kicked his heels and rolled away from her, that infectious laugh ringing out in the hallway again, joined quickly by clapping from the surrounding people.

She could do this.

888*

 _Peds, east entrance. -April_

Was the first message she got, and though she had texted back wondering what the hell Kepner was talking about, she received the same message a second time. But she decided to ignore it, they had a page system in place and if it was an emergency someone would page her.

But a couple minutes later Andrew texted her, _You should be in the peds wing, Dr. Torres._ But she ignored that one as well. She was busy in the research library and once again huffed in annoyance.

But then her phone pinged with messages from Maggie and Amelia, both of which just said _Come to peds._

It wasn't until Meredith texted her, _ROLLER GIRL RIDES AGAIN_ , with an inappropriate amount of exclamation points, that something clicked in her brain. Abandoning her research, she ran to the peds wing. Through floors and hallways of nurses and orderlies and patients and surgeons, she ran. Only one person had ever been called "Roller Girl" and only then by two people, Mark and Cristina. Arizona had embraced the name when it came, even if she was annoyed with whoever said it.

But she hadn't seen the heely's, outside of that one night years ago, and she needed to know. Even after helping Arizona glide up and down the sidewalk in front of their house, the shoes hadn't made an appearance in their lives for seven years.

When she got to peds she was greeted by the sight of a young boy, probably seven or eight, with a similar amputation to her wife's gliding up and down the hall to applause and cheers from patients and nurses alike. As he made another pass down the hall, Callie watched as he slowed down by the far end, and saw Arizona sitting on the floor there.

Immediately taking a step forward, she was stopped by Karev's hand on her arm, and a low whisper, "Torres, don't."

She just looked into his gruff face as he shook his head. Turning back to the boy and Arizona, Callie watched as he awkwardly sat on the floor and as he placed his small hand on hers. She couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but she could tell that this had been going on for a while. Arizona's hair was spilling from her ponytail, and the blonde waves were stuck to her forehead and neck in places, the sheen of sweat on her skin spoke of her exertion.

She watched as the boy stood and offered his hand to Arizona. It only took a moment for her to take it, and they stood together side by side for a minute, that super magic smile coming out as the boy glided back towards them gathered at the nurses station, a matching smile on the boy's face.

She didn't know what Arizona was doing, or why she was doing it, but she was so incredibly proud that she was. Callie could feel the tears gather in her eyes and felt a few make their escape down her cheeks. She hated those shoes. Hated them with a passion, the number of kids that she'd had to operate on because of them, the number of adults.

But Arizona loved them. Had loved them, in the past. Right after the accident, she'd turn away from people wearing them with a hard look on her face, the anger simmering in her eyes. Eventually it had turned to wishful glances, the kind of longing she felt for that movement and freedom and those weird fucking shoes. Then it had gone away, Arizona hadn't spared them a second glance. Except for that one night.

Callie took an involuntary step forward, Alex's hand still on her arm, when Arizona pushed off and glided a couple feet. She was wobbly, and it kind of looked like she was a little bit drunk, but she stopped and shook her head, rolling her shoulders with a look of determination on her face, still offering a smile as the boy went up and down the hall. Even in the five minutes that Callie had been here, he'd gotten much more stable.

But then Arizona had kicked off again and made it to the nurses station in one roll, the little boy rushing to her side and clapping loudly as he shouted "You did it Dr. Arizona! You did it!" And more tears fell from her eyes as Arizona hugged the boy, and they both turned to take off up the hallway again.

Callie could only stand and watch as the rest of their gathered friends moved back towards the pair, her hands clasped in front of her chest. There were hugs all around and high fives as people hugged Arizona and the boy.

But the moment that Arizona caught sight of her, Callie watched as her wife's super magical smile shone only for her, dimples magnifying her cheeks, and her eyes shining with pride and excitement. Arizona extracted herself from the throng and Callie watched, mesmerized, as she kicked her heels again, rolling towards her.

She opened her arms and stumbled a bit as Arizona rolled into her, the small arms of her wife wrapping around her torso as Callie gathered her to her chest, holding tightly as she caught both of their balance.

"Calliope," Arizona breathed into her ear.

"Arizona," she whispered back, reaching up to wipe the tears from her eyes. She had so many questions, but before she got the chance to ask any of them, the little boy skated over to them.

"Dr. Arizona! We did it!"

Arizona pulled herself from Callie's arms, trailing her hand down Callie's arm to twine their fingers, and Callie just held on tightly as Arizona hugged him with her other arm. "Yes we did Greg! We did it!"

"Who's that?" The boy, Greg, asked as he pulled himself from Arizona's hug and looked up at her.

"This is my wife, Dr. Callie." And suddenly the boy was hugging her, it only lasted for a moment as he skated away again.

Arizona's hand came up and caressed her cheek, pulling Callie down into a quick kiss. "I gotta go!" and Callie kissed her quickly once again, releasing her hand so Arizona could go skate after Greg.

888*

When she arrived home that evening it was to find her family nestled on the couch in front of the TV sleeping, a movie playing in the background. Arizona was sprawled along the couch with Sofia tucked between her and the back of the couch, and three month old Timmy nestled on her chest. They hadn't woken when Callie came in, so she took a second to pull out her phone and snap a picture. Then she just watched them for long moments, the sight of her family filling her with happiness and joy.

It was Arizona who roused first, her voice heavy with sleep as she mumbled "Stop staring at us."

Callie knelt on the floor beside them, pressing a soft kiss to Arizona's lips as she rubbed a hand along Timmy's back. "What time is it?" Arizona asked against her lips.

"It's past bedtime." She whispered back, standing to stretch over Arizona and Timmy to pick up Sofia.

"Oops," her wife whispered.

Thankfully Sofia was a heavy sleeper, and already in pyjamas, so it was quick work to deposit her sleeping daughter in her bed. She wouldn't be able to carry her like this for too long, the now nine-year old, getting bigger and taller every day. It seems she inherited Mark's lankiness because she was shooting up like a weed. Or a mighty oak, or whatever.

Upon her return to the living room, she found the TV turned off and Arizona stretched out on the couch, Timmy still sleeping against her chest. "Scoot up a bit," she whispered and helped Arizona sit up, both of them cradling Timmy. Then she crawled behind Arizona, bringing her knees to either side of slim hips and pulling Arizona and Timmy against her chest. Callie looped her arms loosely around Arizona's and underneath Timmy as Arizona settled against her chest.

"Hi," Arizona said, turning her head so that her forehead rested against her chin, and Callie leaned into the embrace.

"Hi," she whispered back, bringing one of her hands up to rest on Timmy's back. "So… skating?"

"Mmm, yeah" Arizona hummed back, the vibrations from her back rolling up Callie's chest and warming her heart.

"Wanna tell me about that?" She asked. After Arizona had gone off to skate with Greg for a little bit longer, Callie had stayed for several minutes after the rest of their friends had left. Alex kept watching as well, but neither Arizona or Greg had fallen again, and as they each made more and more passes up and down the hall, they both gained confidence.

Then Callie had to leave as she was paged 911 to the pit, but she was able to get a last glance of that super magic smile, and hear the twin laughter of Greg and Arizona. But she'd heard the whispers of "Roller Girl" and the following "What" and "Who" and "those shoes are stupid" around the hospital, each utterance of the name pulling a smile from her.

"Greg lost his leg three months ago, and he needed a hand to start rolling again." Arizona whispered after a moment. "I was uniquely qualified."

"When I got there you were sitting on the floor, I wanted to run to you, to help you up or help you stand, or something." Callie whispered.

"Why didn't you?"

"Alex stopped me." Friggen Karev. "But then I saw you stand back up."

"Yes, that was our motto for the afternoon."

"I'm so proud of you Arizona. God, I hate those shoes, they're stupid and dumb and awful. But I love how you love them. I love the way you used to roll around the hospital, like you didn't care about anything or anyone, and you could just roll away. You carry yourself differently when you're wearing them, you can see the confidence. You're still confident without them, and still amazing and you still don't care, but those shoes… Arizona, I'm so so proud of you."

And she was. Part of the quieter and more serious Arizona post-crash was the lack of wheeled shoes. She was still the strong and capable surgeon she had been before, but there was a bit of light missing. It didn't take anything away from her, didn't change who she was or how she carried herself, especially as she got more comfortable on the prosthetic, but watching her skate down the peds floor today, was a glimpse of pre-crash Arizona.

"I was worried you'd be mad." Arizona confessed.

"Oh, I am. I am so mad, because those shoes are dangerous. I don't even care that you were wearing wrist guards." She laughed, loving that Arizona laughed along with her. "But I am so proud of you."

There had been a time when Callie couldn't say that about things relating to the leg. Couldn't express praise or wonderment about all the steps, _pun totally intended_ , that Arizona was making in her recovery. There had just been too much anger between them for that kind of thing. Arizona had wanted to go it on her, and while Callie knew the reasons now, there had been a bit of fear when she'd said them just now. But they were washed away quickly as Arizona tilted her head to press a kiss to her chin and then nuzzled her forehead against the spot she'd just kissed.

"Thank you, Calliope."

Long minutes of comfortable silence later, Arizona tapped her arm, so Callie loosened her grip on her wife and son as Arizona said, "I'm just going to put Timmy down, I'll be right back."

Callie watched her go and laid back on the couch, the fireplace on to her right, casting the darkened living room into flickering shadows and warring light, the warmth from the propane flames washing across her.

Within minutes Arizona was back and though Callie sat up to welcome her back, Arizona waved her back down as she sat and removed her prosthetic, Callie could only watch, drooling a bit, as her wife scooted closer and languidly poured herself on top of Callie and between her legs, finally coming to rest breast to breast. Instantly Callie wrapped her arms around Arizona's back and wasted no time in slipping her hands underneath the flimsy cotton shirt she was wearing and digging her fingers into the skin and musculature there.

"Hi," Arizona whispered again, before pressing forward and taking Callie's lips in a kiss that left nothing to the imagination about where she wanted this to go.

Callie moaned into the kiss, loudly, and instantly Arizona pulled back with a downward press to Callie's centre with her hips, drawing another whimpered moan from Callie. Of their own volition, Callie felt her hips rise to press tighter to Arizona, but let out a frustrated groan when Arizona lightly pulled away.

It was a struggle to remain quiet when Arizona's hot breath was in her ear "Do you think you can be quiet?" and then her tongue was trailing a path of fire along the outer shell of her ear, so Callie roughly grabbed a handful of Arizona's shirt and pressed it to her mouth, not trusting herself to answer verbally all she did was nod. "That's good Calliope," Arizona breathed into her ear again, Arizona's hand wandering between their tightly pressed bodies. "If you make," those fingers that Callie needed made it to the waist band, "one" under the elastic of her yoga pants, "sound" below her underwear, "I'll have to stop."

Then Callie stuffed the shirt in her mouth, because of the things that Arizona was doing to her. Her lips and her tongue were roving the column of her neck, biting and soothing and licking and pressing hot open mouthed kisses. Her fingers were walking the same wandering path, up and down her labia and making small circles against her clit, she could feel the gathering wetness as it made the delicious friction between her legs fade.

Callie tried to ask for more and for harder and to beg a little, but because of the shirt in her mouth it just came out in a garbled mess of moans and incoherent syllables, but evidently it wasn't loud enough to cause Arizona to stop.

"I'm sorry, I missed that Mrs. Robbins," and god, Callie could have come just from that. Because Arizona had only called her that twice before, and both times it had been when her wife's fingers had been thrusting roughly and hurriedly between her legs in an on-call room. She moaned again, slipping her own hand beneath Arizona's pants and grabbing roughly at her wife's ass in an effort to increase the pressure of her wife's hips and fingers as Arizona continued to breathe into her ear, "You might have to repeat it for me."

Spitting the shirt out of her mouth was a struggle as Arizona continue to move in and against her, and Callie could feel her orgasam rushing at her as she gripped Arizona's ass tighter and moved her other hand to tangle in flowing blonde waves, hooking her leg around Arizona's to give her wife more room to work.

The new position opened her core wider and Arizona was pushing in deeper, dragging a whimper for Callie that she knew was too loud, but she husked "Don't stop," as lips were reattached to her neck.

"Are you close, Calliope? Do you need to come, do I need to fuck you harder," punctuated with the invasion of a third finger, the burn bordering more on pleasure than pain, but it came with a delicious burn that pulled another low whimper from her throat, "Or faster?" another rough circle over her clit pulled Arizona's name from her lips and it was all Callie could do to make it soft and low as Arizona began thrusting her hips and fingers against her faster and harder.

Not trusting herself to speak again, the strength and size of the orgasm rushing at her, Callie used all of the strength she had available, which wasn't much, and her grip in Arizona's hair to pull her wife's lips to hers and as soon as their lips met, Arizona's tongue was in her mouth, dominant and forceful, and that was enough to lead Callie into her orgasm.

She rode the rolling waves of it as the spread from her core to her fingers tightened on her wife's beautiful ass and against her skull. Arizona worked her slowly down, her fingers and kiss becoming softer and gentler to softened Callie's landing. As she loosened her fingers on her wife's body, Callie shuddered with the last aftershocks as Arizona slipped from inside her, and she whimpered at the loss.

As her breathing returned to normal, Arizona's hand while gone from working between her legs, still covered her mound, and though she'd just come, Callie could feel it building in her again. "Should we take this to the bedroom?"


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Holla.**

"Grey, I need to talk to you." Callie whispered, grabbing her friend by the hand and dragging her into the nearest supply closet, heedless to the mutterings of her friend.

She and Arizona had agreed that they would tell two people this time about their pregnancy. Meredith and April. Though Timmy was only five months old, they didn't want to wait any longer to try again so that the kids could be closer in age. It worried them about how much older Sofia was than Timmy, and any longer that they waited would just increase that age gap between their oldest and youngest. They had two embryos left, both Robbins babies, which Callie couldn't wait to have more of because Timmy was still a crack baby, his blue eyes darkening a bit, but his momma's dimples popping more and more every day. Crack baby.

"What is it Callie?" Meredith asked, her arms crossing over her chest, a touch of worry on her face. Callie wasn't sure where Arizona was in her conversation with April, or if it had even happened yet. Since her wife had skated with Greg a month ago, Roller Girl, was officially back in the hospital, and she seemed to be rolling everywhere. Callie was still anticipating the page that she'd fallen and broken something or was concussed and brain dead somewhere or some equally tragic thing, but it was a small part. Mostly she was still incredibly proud.

Even if she'd adamantly refused to get Sofia a matching pair. But she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out.

"I have something to tell you." She whispered, scanning the small room to make sure that they were alone. Just because they didn't want to blindside their friends this time, didn't mean that they wanted the whole hospital to know their business.

"So tell me."

"We're trying again." She'd spoken so quietly she almost hadn't heard herself say the words.

"Huh?"

Taking a deep breath, she turned to meet the icy blue stare of her friend. Concern laced Meredith's face, and her posture was tense. She looked the way that Callie felt. Something inside her still screamed that this was wrong to do, to keep their decision a secret and to hide it away. They had thought with Katie and Timmy that keeping it out of the hospital would somehow protect it from the whole _Seattle Grace Mercy Death_ thing, but it obviously hadn't worked, and while their friends understood and had forgiven them, she and Arizona didn't want to do that to them again.

"Arizona and I, we're having another baby." She'd still whispered this time, but by the change in her friends posture and the small smile that formed on her face, Callie knew that she'd been heard this time. The relief at seeing her friend happy for her was overwhelming.

"You're pregnant again?" Meredith asked, taking a step closer to her.

"Yes."

If they could have used Katie again, they would have. But since it was so close to her accident it wasn't possible. And they hoped, hoped almost as much as they had for her to get pregnant and keep the baby, that she wouldn't suffer the same fate as Callie had with the accident. That she would be able to have more children if she wanted. She had told them that she had been using the payments from the surrogacies to pay for nursing school, and though she'd fought them on it, she agreed to let them pay for her remaining three semesters of school. It wasn't the least they could do to thank her, but it was so much less than everything they wanted to give her for protecting and carrying Timmy.

"Callie, that's wonderful!" Then Meredith hugged her, it was short and quick and so Meredith Grey that Callie couldn't help but laugh.

"Thanks," she responded easily, it was easy to be hopeful.

"You or Arizona?" Meredith asked.

"Arizona, when we first tried years ago, before… you know, we had embryos." They had discussed the possibility of harvesting some eggs from Callie, but then decided that the ones they had were fine. Callie didn't mind, didn't feel the pressing need to have more of her own biological children, Arizona had been right when she said that Timmy was as much Torres as he was Robbins, and this one would be too. Another Robbins-Torres.

"She does make cute babies though, that Robbins." Meredith said with another small smile.

"Right? Adorable little crack babies."

"Oh my god, you shouldn't call him that!" Meredith said with a scowl on her face to which Callie could only laugh.

888*

The room where they had their board meetings hadn't changed at all in the seven years since they'd had their first meeting. The roving cast of surgeons that filled it had rotated in those years, and some of the original Grey-Sloan Seven were missing, even if none of them had ever appreciated the name, but the room itself hadn't changed.

But as Callie sat there, back on the same side as Arizona, a move that she'd made when she returned to Seattle almost two years ago now, she honestly couldn't say that she would change a thing. Well, she'd like it if Derek were here, nothing about this felt complete without Derek, but as it was, Callie was happy.

"So, I have a couple things I'd like to address with you guys," Jackson began at the head of the table. Callie knew that he was excited about whatever it was that he wanted to say, his small smile not quite hidden by his doctor face.

"The first, as you all know the Catherine Fox Awards are next week and I have been informed that two members of this group are on the nominations list." There was a smattering of applause and chatter as the group of surgeons; Richard, Meredith, Callie, Arizona, Bailey, and Owen who had taken Derek's seat, congratulated each other. Callie was sure that Arizona was one of them, since word got out that her and the other maternal-fetal surgeons got the go ahead from the F.A.C.S. to begin maternal-fetal as its own specialty outside Peds and OB, her wife had been inundated with applications and phone calls from around the world. But she wasn't sure who the second could be.

It wasn't her, she and Arizona had agreed, reluctantly, that while this was happening with the F.A.C.S., and they were trying again, she would step back on research for a little bit. Not forever, just until their lives evened out a bit. Arizona hadn't wanted to agree, and they had had one of the biggest fights they'd had since they'd gotten remarried about it. This had been one of the things that had been a problem with their first marriage, the focus on family and each other had stalled both of their careers - in fact Arizona attempting to further hers had been almost the final nail in the coffin that first time.

They didn't want that to happen this time. Their careers were important to them, both as individuals and now as mothers, and they had lost sight of that. Arizona didn't want Callie to resent her for not being able to do research as intensely as she had been lately, and Callie didn't want to stop Arizona from being able to save more tiny tiny humans. Once Callie had said that she had no pressing and innovative ideas at the moment, and that at the first sign of something and the first big idea, they could reevaluate, Arizona had even more reluctantly agreed. Callie had also used the 'you pulled back on peds' card to sway Arizona to her side, since her wife was still getting calls from around the country about her skills as a pediatric surgeon, but she'd only consult and then Alex would handle it from there.

The final argument, from both of them, that this was something that they both needed and more importantly, wanted to do, was that Timmy had chosen the moment to laugh for the first time. The argument ceased between them in that instant, Sofia rushing into the room as the four of them laughed together. Their careers were important, yes, but their family was more so. It was important to them to have those important careers because their kids needed to see strong working mothers. And it was equally important that they balanced and supported each other both as mothers and as surgeons.

"One of them is-" Jackson began but was interrupted by the door to the boardroom opening, and someone bursting in.

"I'm back bitches!" Cristina Yang practically yelled to the room.

There was excited chatter again, everyone getting up to greet their former coworker and always friend. But knowing that Cristina was here again, filled Callie with happiness. She and Sofia spoke over face time at least once a month, and every so often a gift would arrive in the mail from her, sometimes a little trinket or sometimes something big and expensive. Cristina took her duties as godmother very seriously, to both Sofia and Zola, and both of the little girls loved her, even if they were still slightly confused that she insisted they call her Yang.

"Why are you back?" Meredith asked, as the chatter settled and Cristina took a seat between Meredith and Richard.

"Because it's the Catherine Fox Awards, duh." The unspoken _idiot_ hanging lightly in the air.

Callie shot Arizona a smile, her wife responding in kind as they watched the reunited twisted sisters interact, both knowing that Sofia would probably want to spend the night at Meredith's house with Zola and Cristina. They'd enjoy that as well.

"Who's the second?" Richard asked, and just as Jackson was about to answer, it was Cristina who spoke, an affectionate glance at Callie and Arizona.

"Roller Girl!"

And even though Callie had suspected it, she was so incredibly proud. She was the first to hug Arizona, having the advantage of sitting next to her, and a chorus of 'gross' from Meredith and Cristina meeting her ears as she bent forward and kissed Arizona softly, threading their fingers together.

"Almost." Jackson said, cutting through the congratulations for Arizona, the seven of them turned toward Jackson again.

"The reason I was informed of this quite early is because in a first for the foundation and the awards, Dr. Robbins has indeed been nominated, again, but not as an individual this time." Curious glances looked between Arizona and Cristina and Jackson. But he pressed on, "She's been nominated alongside Dr. Montgomery, Dr. Herman, Dr. Giles, and Dr. Hendricks."

"That means she's probably going to win, right? Well, they are." Bailey said, with an affectionate glance at Arizona and Callie. Callie returned the smile, but noticed that Arizona was blushing. She wasn't the kind of surgeon to go after awards or the prestige like most other surgeons. Even when she'd won the Carter-Madison Grant early in their relationship, all she could talk about was the tiny humans she'd get to save. Everyone around them, including herself, Callie would always note, was talking about the prestige of her winning. How Arizona was bringing positive press and good things to the hospital and herself, but Arizona had only wanted to talk about the tiny humans.

Even all the money that was consistently donated to the peds ward or the hospital in her name, all she wanted to talk about was how they could save tiny humans. Arizona was humble almost to a fault in regards to the effect her name had in the surgical world. Callie knew that her wife knew that she was an excellent surgeon, but Callie also knew that the only reason that Arizona worked on being an excellent surgeon was so that she could save as many kids and babies and pregnant ladies as she could.

Using her grip on her wife's hand, Callie pulled Arizona closer to herself as the chatter and excitement of having Cristina back, even for a short amount of time, and the celebration of the both of them. Sliding a hand along a pale jaw, Callie tilted the blonde's head to her lips, so she could whisper "What's wrong?" in her wife's ear.

Arizona let out a long sigh, small smile hitched on her face for the benefit of their friends, but Callie knew all of her wife's smiles, this was the one that said 'we can move on from me now.' As Arizona reached up to place her own hand on Callie's cheek, she tilted slightly to whisper quietly, almost so low that Callie couldn't hear the words over the hubbub in the room. "Nothing's wrong. I just… you know, I'm not…" But Callie could feel the lies in the words, the tenseness in her wife's shoulders.

"You were nominated two years ago," she reminded the blonde.

"I know. I just don't get the fuss, is all." Which is patently ridiculous. The way that Arizona fawned over Callie winning, the way that she brings it up in conversation all the time with strangers and other doctors, even to the owner of the Seattle Kraken.

"You brag about me winning a Catherine Fox more than I do." Callie reminded her, with a gentle nudge.

"Can we talk about this later, Calliope? Please?" Callie just nodded, and placed a light kiss on the cheek below her lips, both of their hands sliding from jaws and back into their respective laps, her gaze finally returning to the room to see everyone assembled staring at them.

"What?" She demanded, the flush rising in her cheeks as everyone laughed at them

888*

"I just, I don't understand." Callie said again, stirring the meal she was making for Alex and Jo. Arizona was sitting on one of the island bars feeding Timmy. While they had been invited to dinner with Cristina and Meredith, they'd had this planned dinner with Alex and Jo, so Sofia was at Meredith's house with Zola. And with Cristina. Callie was certain that Cristina was the most excited about this between the three of them.

After the board meeting, everyone had been let go and spread, but not without more congratulatory hugs from their friends. She'd distinctly heard Cristina whisper _You got this Roller Girl_ into Arizona's ear, and watched the flush move up her wife's cheeks as she'd assured Cristina that she was going to win.

Callie had watched the way that all of their other friends had congratulated Arizona. Doing so as Cristina was dragged away from Meredith, by Maggie and Teddy who had pulled her along to the CICU, some serious geeky cardio talk happening. Though the official announcement wasn't for two more days, it seemed as if it had been leaked because it was all over the hospital.

Alex and April had gotten to her at the same time, both of them hugging her, the force of Alex's lifting her off her feet and Callie had watched him gently settle her on the ground, ensuring that she was stable and balanced before he let go. Residents and interns approached her over the day, Andrew also giving Arizona a gentle hug, and Schmitt still blushing about the incident from over a year ago.

Callie herself had been asked about it, saying over and over how proud she was of Arizona, how it was a good thing for the hospital and smiling. Sent congratulatory texts to Addison and Nicole. Had booked plane tickets for the four of them and informed Barbara and The Colonel, remembering _mom and dad_ , about them coming.

But in the back of her mind, all day, was Arizona's weird thing about being recognized for her achievements as a surgeon.

"They're just not that important to me." Was the most she'd been able to get out of her wife, Callie's frustration rising.

"You're an amazing surgeon Arizona!" Was her response, had said it or some variation of it to Arizona and others dozens of times today. The first time she'd said it to Arizona had been when she huffed in frustration when the charge nurse of the daycare congratulated her when they'd picked up Timmy.

Even now, hours after that incident, having talked the whole way to pick up Sofia from school, then when Sofia hadn't asked for help with her homework, they had talked some more, and still Callie didn't understand.

"I don't know what else to say Calliope. I didn't get into medicine to win awards. I did it to save people. I know you're going to say, again, that winning awards let the medical community be aware of my amazingness. But so does publishing papers and going to conferences and answering the phone and talking to other doctors when they call me."

Callie just huffed as she added more ingredients to the sauce.

"So you don't want to win?" She asked, bringing a taste of the sauce to Arizona, rubbing her other hand over Timmy's head as he fell asleep against Arizona's chest, his bottle empty but still diligently nursing.

"Well of course I want to win Calliope, now that we're nominated, but if we hadn't been nominated I wouldn't have minded that either."

"Arizona-" She began but was interrupted by the doorbell and the arrival of Alex and Jo. And almost as if she was fleeing the conversation, Arizona hurried smoothly from the kitchen to let Alex and Jo in.

888*

Dinner had been a quiet affair. As soon as Arizona had let Jo in her sleeping son had been claimed by Jo, and the younger surgeon not putting him down even while she ate. Aunty Jo had taken the role and mantle quite easily, sliding smoothly into her children's life and being there through every moment, just as she had transitioned into Alex's life.

Now the five of them, Timmy sleeping against Jo's chest, sat around the table chatting quietly over the last remnants of their wine and beer, a strange friendship that Arizona couldn't have ever imagined.

Finally Alex cleared his throat, and Arizona knew that something big was coming. Alex seemed to get flustered when he was sharing personal things. Professionally he was calm and cool, always quick with a 'dude' or some other immature quip that disguised his professionalism, but it worked well to make his peds kids love him. That was one of the things she'd decided not to teach out of him, the way he talked to kids, parents yes - but even then it worked for him. But when it came time for personal things, Arizona could see the guards that he had placed around himself. Twelve years of friendship and he still was hesitant to open himself to her. Not that she blamed him, really, he'd had such a hard life, one that she couldn't even begin to imagine so she'd learned to let him come to her.

"So we have something to tell you guys." He said, looking only at Jo holding Timmy.

Arizona chanced a glance at Callie, her wife's cheeks slightly flushed with wine, a small smile gracing her features.

Alex opened and closed his mouth a couple times, seemingly unable to find the words, so Jo finished whatever he started. "We're pregnant!" Suddenly Arizona knew why her son had been taken and not let go by Jo.

"Oh, yay!" She and Callie said at the same time, instantly at Jo's side hugging their friend. Then they both rounded to Alex who was embarrassed by their affections, but neither she nor Callie cared, this was excellent news.

But they still hadn't told them that they were also pregnant. Their surrogate had her three month check up earlier, and though they had told Meredith and April when she'd gone in for the procedure, they were waiting to tell the rest of their friends. One glance at Callie, and Arizona knew that her wife was on the same page, they should tell them.

When the three who had stood sat down again, the seating had been rearranged, Alex now sat beside Jo, his arm across the back of her chair and her leaning into him. Their posture mirrored by Callie and Arizona, and the blonde couldn't help but reach across her chest and take Callie's hand in hers, leaning into her chest.

"We have some news too," Callie began, and Arizona felt the soft press of lips to her temple. "But, this dinner was your idea and you have huge news."

"So we can wait," Arizona finished, "and this can be all about you guys."

"We all know about Catherine Fox," Alex replied easily, his eyes still never leaving Jo holding Timmy.

"No, it's not about that Karev," Callie said, pressing another kiss to Arizona's temple.

"Well then, what is it Robbins?"

"They're pregnant too, you dummy." Jo said, drawing laughs from both Callie and Arizona while Alex finally turned his gaze away from Jo and gaped at them some more.

"Huh?" He asked, his eyes darting between their faces. But Arizona could only look up at her wife, matching smiles on their faces. Callie was honestly the most amazingly beautiful woman, and she still took Arizona's breath away on an almost daily basis. "What do you mean?"

Arizona laughed again, wanting desperately to say that he knew what it meant, how it worked and to gesture vaguely to Jo, and to laugh some more.

But it was Callie who spoke, "Our surrogate just had her three month check up, we're having another baby."

"We just had our three month check up yesterday!" Jo said, smiling at them and Alex again. "That means we'll be due around the same time."

Arizona distinctly heard Alex mutter _if nothing bad happens_ and she couldn't help but laugh again.

888*

"Torres and Karev, grab your trauma kits and the amputation kit, you've got to go!" Bailey shouted at them in the busy and crowded pit. There had been an explosion at a high school nearby, and they were overrun with injured teenagers and terrified parents. Callie wanted to tell Arizona that she was going, but her wife had been pulled into peds surgeries all day. Technically she was supposed to be pulling back on peds cases, but in this situation it was all hands on deck and Karev was directing his residents and fellows in the pit.

And now that Bailey was sending them into the field, long ago promises of telling each other where they were going flitting through her mind. "You'll tell Dr. Robbins?" She asked of Bailey who was closing the doors of the ambulance that she and Karev had climbed into.

"And Wilson?" Alex asked, to which Bailey just nodded as she latched the doors closed and the ambulance took off.

"SFD says one of their guys is trapped with a couple kids and his arm is crushed under a piece of the collapsed roof," the ambulance driver told them from the front of the rig, speeding along the busy Seattle streets, sirens blaring and the rig shaking.

"The kids?" Alex asked, as Callie and he both sorted their trauma bags, and Callie switched the order of the amputation kit, getting it ready for a possible arm amputation. The information she was given was vague, the difference between a humeral amputation and an ulnar and radial amputation wasn't large, but it was the difference between one bone and two, so she wanted to be prepared.

"Unknown at this time," the ambulance driver said.

They rode in silence for a few more minutes, both she and Alex finished their preparations and sitting side by side, anticipating and mentally preparing for what they were about to do.

"One of us has to go in, Torres." Alex said quietly, breaking the tense silence that they were in.

"Yeah." She replied, this was an impossible situation right now.

"It should be me." He said. Callie turned to look at him quickly, noticing that he wasn't looking at her.

"Karev, why?" Though she could suspect that she knew his reasons.

"You're a mom, you have kids and a wife."

"Karev, you're a dad. You have a wife who's pregnant."

Callie watched as his face hardened for a moment. They were obviously feeling the same things about each other. But she didn't want to think about the danger that she was about to throw herself head first into. The last time this had happened, her out in the field, she'd had one child and a wife. Now she had two children, with two more on the way. They'd found out that they were having twins the night that Arizona had won the Catherine Fox award a month ago.

"Robbins can't lose you."

"You think Wilson can lose you?"

Alex just sighed in frustration next to her. Neither of them voicing the thoughts that ran rampant through their heads, that neither of them wanted to leave their wife or children, that neither of them wanted to go into a burning building and endanger themselves. But they were doctors, surgeons and this was their job. Callie had fought tooth and nail to get GSM back to a Level 1 Trauma centre, and this was part of that price to pay.

"Torres…" Alex began, and she could hear the hesitation in his voice. But also the strength of his conviction that he should be the one to go in.

"Three minutes out!" The ambulance driver said again. He and his partner sitting quietly in the front, Callie knowing that they were listening.

"Walk me through a humeral amputation with crush injuries." She said simply.

But he'd hesitated. She knew, in the back of her mind, that he would be able to do it. She'd trained him herself on the procedure, but that had been a relatively simple procedure. She didn't know when the last time he'd done one was.

"It'll be okay Karev," Callie said without conviction. Nothing about this was okay.

8*

They'd gotten the kids out through the window, she'd had to splint one of their arms and quickly apply a sling for a dislocated shoulder to the other, but they were relatively unharmed. Then she'd gotten to work on the amputation. The firefighter, a woman that Callie didn't recognize, had passed out so she knew she needed to work quickly.

"Torres, how's it going?" She could hear the rising panic in Alex's voice over the headset she wore. She knew she'd been in here too long, the smoke wasn't too bad, but she could feel the heat from the rest of the building that was in flames behind her.

The room they were in was untouched by the fire, but was in chaotic disarray because if the explosion. Possessions and books and desks and papers were scattered about the room, the safety of the classroom destroyed in the chaos.

"Almost done Karev," she replied, pulling out the saw to cut through the bone.

"Dr. Torres, how much longer?" The voice of the SFD captain came over. He was running the scene, and was hesitant to allow one of them to go in, but they'd forced him to allow her in. She couldn't stand the thought of asking one of the kids to do this, and neither could Alex. And even though they'd argued about it again, about who would go in, there were still tons of injured kids at the school so he'd stayed outside with them.

"Five minutes." She said back, not bothering to stop the saw.

She could hear Alex chattering in her ear, but she didn't respond to him, the rising heat worrying her, and the press of smoke in the room starting to burn her throat. As soon as she finished with the saw she threw it haphazardly in the case, moving quickly to cover the wound while saying over the headset "She's finished, come get us."

They'd been left alone in the room while she worked, but the firefighters that had strapped their colleague to the board were waiting on the raised platform outside the window to prevent more unnecessary movement on the unstable floor around them. When she'd called them two of them scrambled in the open window and they all lifted the firefighter through and she and the one that was left behind turned back to the room to gather the two kits.

It was only a few minutes before the platform they needed to escape on was rising again, but suddenly another explosion rocked the building, knocking her knees out from under her, sending her crashing into the firefighter beside her and sending them both crashing to the ground.

The headset in her ear crackled as Alex's voice yelled over the line as she got to her knees, trying to catch her breath. She was fine from the second explosion, but it had knocked her trauma kit open and she felt her palm slice open with a hot burn as she accidentally nudged it trying to stand up.

"Dude, answer me!" Karev's voice came over the line, clear and full of panic.

"Karev, we're fine." She replied back, grabbing some gauze and gripping it tightly in her left hand, stemming the flow of blood.

"Thank god, cause Robbins and Jo would have killed me." He said.

"Okay, so that just knocked the platform down and I don't think we'll have time to get another," the SFD captain said over the line. "You're going to have to rappel down, can you manage that Dr. Torres?"

"I cut my hand." She said lamely, the blood slowly trickling from her clenched fist.

"Torres!"

"Dr. Karev, quiet. Johnson, can you lower Dr. Torres?"

Callie looked at the firefighter who nodded while he said "Yes sir."

They decided to abandon the kits, and since she was already wearing the harness it was a quick fix to get her hooked up and lowered out the window. Terrifying and slow, but she made it to the ground into the open arms of the firefighters and Karev who wrapped her tightly in his shaking arms.

"I'm fine Karev." She whispered, holding him just as tightly with her right arm.

"Good, because my kid needs his godmother, you and Mer, you know, a kid needs two of them, and we're gonna name it after Robbins, but we can't do that if you're dead and I'm dead cause Robbins will have killed me. I don't think Jo would still name him after her if she killed me."

Callie laughed at his ramble, and gripped him tighter. "Arizona won't let you name your kid after her, Karev."

"She doesn't get to choose."

888*

Today had been incredibly difficult for Arizona. She was supposed to be interviewing maternal-fetal fellows but that had all been put off in the wake of the the explosion at the school. But she'd forced Bailey to give them privileges so she could see them in action in the OR. Her OR had been a rotating one, performing successive surgeries only stopping to scrub between patients. She'd had the two fellows she was supposed to interview in with her, a mock interview between procedures.

Even when Bailey had told her that Callie was going out to the scene to perform an emergency amputation, Arizona had continued on despite the shudder of fear that rolled down her spine. While the hospital wasn't the safest place in the world, explosions and shooters and rapists all the time, it was a hell of a lot safer than the field. But Callie was a professional, Arizona knew and trusted her ability in the field, but that didn't mean she was worried. Plus Alex was the one that went with her, she knew that Alex would keep Callie safe, and that likewise Callie would protect him.

"Dr. Robbins." Jo said, holding a scrub mask over her face. Arizona smiled at her friend, her small baby bump showing below rumpled scrubs. But the look on her face gave Arizona pause.

"What is it?" She asked, the fear from earlier making waves in the pit of her stomach. "Did something happen to - happen to -" But she couldn't voice it. She'd lived this pain before.

"Dr. Torres is fine." There was a 'but' behind that sentence, but the breath of relief that Arizona let out wasn't able to completely drown the fear and panic. "Dr. Karev said that she cut her hand on a scalpel, they're on their way back in," she'd completely forgotten about Alex in that moment, but was also glad that he was safe.

"Dr. Avery-" She began again, but was once again interrupted by Jo.

"Has been paged and will meet Torres and Karev in the ER. Dr. Shepherd will be there as well."

"How long?" She asked.

"Ten minutes out."

"Go, Wilson. I'll meet you guys there."

She sighed as Jo left, finally turning her attention back to the prospective fellows before her, both of whom were looking at her strangely.

"Isn't Dr. Torres your wife?" One of them asked, while the other nodded. She wouldn't be able to meet Callie right away, she had to finish this surgery. It was the last on her rotation, but she was a professional. And as far as procedures went, this one was pretty simple, she could leave it to them, but she couldn't do that.

So she simply nodded, shaking her worry off but not completely away, as she went back to teaching the fellows, interrogating them for answers and replies now, when before it had been fun and light.

Almost twenty minutes later, Alex burst into the room and demanded to be gloved and gowned, and he moved toward her quickly. "Go Robbins, she's in Trauma 1."

"I'm going to-" She began to warn him.

"Kill me later, right. I got it, Jo already threatened me. Who are these people?" He asked taking over her spot as lead surgeon.

"These are some of my prospective fellows, Dr. Nugent and Dr. Singh, walk them through like you would one of your own." She said, offering him the space and moving to take off her own gown and gloves, wanting only to rush to Callie's side.

"Go Robbins, you can threaten me later."

She smiled at him then, and caught his questions and listened as they answered. She barely stopped to scrub out before quickly moving to the ER.

The chaos in the hospital had died down, even though the ER was still packed with residents and procedures, Arizona could tell that the tragedy was dying down. Weaving her way to Trauma 1, she flung the door open to find Callie sitting on the exam bed with her left hand propped up on the suturing tray, but alone.

Callie had looked up when she burst in, but Arizona could only stop and stare for a second. Her wife was covered with dirt and blood, whose blood she didn't know and didn't want to ask. Her scrubs were rumpled and torn in places, her chin length hair was falling out of the tight bun it was supposed to be in, flyaway chunks mattered to her forehead and covered in soot. An oxygen mask over her face. All in all she looked a frightful mess.

And still was the most glorious woman that Arizona had ever seen.

Callie's face broke into a small smile and removed the oxygen and it was that motion that spurred her into motion, Arizona practically launching herself into Callie's arms. Well, arm, the right hand of her wife gripping the back of her scrubs tightly, as Arizona held as tightly as she could, probably squeezing Callie too hard.

Arizona couldn't find any words to express herself, couldn't find the way to be simultaneously unjustly angry at her wife, the unbridled joy of her being mostly all right, the sheer happiness of being able to hold her like this, all she could do was kiss her. It was hard and rough, but chaste considering the setting, a meeting of lips and hands that gripped too roughly for the emotions surrounding them.

Finally pulling back Arizona softened the vice like hold of her arms, not removing them, just content to rest her forehead against Callie's cheek, replacing the oxygen mask that had been dropped when she'd burst into the room.

They were only alone for a minute when Jackson and Amelia came in together, both of them sparing a glance at Arizona before moving to Callie's left hand. Arizona could only watch as the two of them poked and prodded the hand, watched as each of her fingers was able to touch the thumb, she'd heard them say "no nerve damage" and "no surgery for two weeks" and "stitches" and "minimal scarring," but hadn't heard much else of the conversation. She'd caught the important parts. All she had wanted to hear anyway was the steady beat of Callie's heart, and when she'd rested her head on her wife's shoulder she could feel it and hear it, the steady rhythm washing away the fear of the last 14 hours.

Arizona stayed in Callie's arm, her wife wrapped tightly in her own, after Amelia left and while Jackson did the sutures, not willing or able to move from holding Callie. Long moments after he'd finished and left them alone, she still stood that way, wrapped around Callie as much as she could be.

"Will you kiss it better for me Dr. Robbins?" Callie teased, a sheepish grin on her face as she held out her bandaged hand to Arizona. With an affectionate roll of her eyes, Arizona grabbed the tanned hand with her own and raised it to her lips, gently pressing her lips to the cotton and gauze covered site of the injury.

"Does it hurt anywhere else?" She teased back, not letting go of the injured left hand in hers.

With a wink and another sheepish grin, Callie used her free right hand to point to her lips, and Arizona obliged the request and leaned in to kiss her wife again. This time was more than lips and more than chaste, but it wasn't hard and rough. It was gentle and languid as Callie sucked briefly on her bottom lip, familiar and spreading warmth through her as their tongues met.

Finally breaking away, Arizona pressed another soft kiss to Callie's lips and they both sighed into the quiet of the trauma room. "Can we go home now?"


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Sometimes, like April, I forget that Arizona is a state.**

The week that had passed since the explosion was one of the longest that Callie could remember. Though it paled in comparison to her recovery after the car accident, it was definitely top twenty in terms of worst weeks. No surgery, just boring consults and cases, her NHL job hadn't started yet and neither the Mariners or Seahawks had needed her. So work was boring. She had to be careful playing with her children, Timmy had kept grabbing at the gauze that was wrapped around her hand, squealing with delight and dimples every time he was able to get a grip on it. Then frowning and squealing with baby rage and frustration when she or Arizona had gently pulled his fingers free. Sofia understood, but even she was hesitant to hug her, being gentle around her.

But the worst was Arizona. Because Arizona was withholding sex while Callie "healed." The excuses she'd come up with were shot down by Arizona as quickly as Callie had offered them.

That first night they had tried, and they were doing well, until the pain meds kicked in and Callie fell asleep while Arizona's fingers were inside her. Which was totally fair, Callie had started it all, and then to have fallen asleep while being pleasured by her wife, and then even worse, not reciprocating… she understood that first night. But then the not valid, in Callie's mind, excuses came out.

The second thing she'd said was "But I'm right handed," was denied by Arizona with an accompanying eye roll with "your left hand gets involved." Arizona had also blushed, because that excuse and denial was given in public, and Callie had practically shouted it at Arizona.

The third way Callie tried was "My mouth, you love my mouth, I love making love to you with my mouth, I love your mouth. No hands involved," and thankfully Callie had said this one in bed, just the two of them, fully clothed, and Arizona had blushed again, the flush of arousal covering her chest and neck as she got a far away look in her eye and her face went slack, "you grab my hair." Which was flimsy as well, but Callie knew that look on her wife's face, knew that the blonde was picturing just what they'd both said.

The fourth night Callie didn't even try an excuse, just went for it. After the kids had been put to bed, thank god Timmy was sleeping through most of the night, they had a good six hours before either of their children woke up, Callie had pounced on Arizona just inside their door. Arizona had followed along willingly and didn't notice Callie wince when she'd grabbed the smaller woman and roughly thrown her on the bed. But, much to Callie's chagrin, her wife did notice that Callie winced and pulled up her left hand when she'd tried to crawl over Arizona's body, and the blonde had put a stop to it.

The fifth excuse, on that fourth night, was practically whisper yelled to Arizona's back as she bent to retrieve her prosthetic from where Callie had discarded it, "I can do it myself," but Arizona had just gave her a look over a bare shoulder, pink bra strap dangling off, the pale back exposed because somewhere along the way one of them undid it. Arizona did not offer a rebuttal.

Callie didn't even get to try the fifth night because Sofia had gotten an upset stomach, a quick flu that had passed by the morning, but she and Arizona had spent the whole night up with her and Timmy. Sofia's cries and retching waking the baby.

Day six found them making out in the hospital, a supply closet somewhere near Callie's lab. Which would always be her lab, even though she wasn't doing research at the moment, but she owned this hospital, it was her lab. Though Callie's plan had involved the lab, there was an excellent couch in there, and a really good lock, and technically it was empty at the moment and she wasn't working in it so no one would look for her there, they hadn't made it that far. As they had walked toward it, hand in hand, Callie practically dragging Arizona along behind her, she'd felt a small warm hand snake it's way under her scrub top, and then the door to the supply closet was _right fucking there_ so she'd turned abruptly, those fingers of her wife digging into the small of her back, pressing against the vertebra to steady herself. Once the door was shut, Callie had immediately pressed Arizona against it.

It was hard to tell where she began and Arizona ended. They were a singular mess of arms and legs, hands in hair and under scrub tops and in scrub bottoms and in the back of underwear, all lips and teeth and tongues, and Callie was almost ready to come. Arizona, too, if Callie could read her wife. And she could. Pale pink lips sought hers desperately, pale and strong fingers gripped her flesh wherever they found themselves, rough tugs of her short hair indicated a growing need from her wife. But it was the way that Arizona panted between kisses, throatily and deep, like she couldn't get the air, but nonchalant like breathing didn't matter.

Callie could understand. Breathing didn't matter when they were like this. The burn in her lungs and muscles was a small price to pay to keep Arizona doing those things with her lips to Callie's neck. And that thing with her tongue, and _oh my god_ , when teeth sunk deeply into her neck, her knees went weak, her body held aloft by the strong arms of her wife, and a hard thigh between hers. It was the sinking of her knees that brought her aching and pulsing clit into contact with Arizona's leg, a role reversal of that first time.

Callie could feel her orgasm building, the tense muscles of her abdomen rippling under the ghosting touches of Arizona's fingertips there, and the way that Arizona's _rectus femoris_ muscle flexed against her with each wild and hurried thrust of her hips, she was so close to finally, _finally_ , coming undone in Arizona's arms that even the sounds of sex in the air couldn't drown out the call of a pager in the room.

"Noooo," Callie whined as the muscles against her core relaxed and her wife pulled back to check the device.

"I have to go." Was all Arizona said, but she said it against Callie's neck, and her thigh was once again pressed tightly against a now painfully aroused clit and of their own volition Callie's hips began a frantic rhythm once again, chasing the orgasm that hadn't receded.

"Are you close Calliope?" Was whispered in her ear and all Callie could do was grip the ass and shoulder of her wife and hold her closer as she chased her undoing and nod.

"It's non-emergent," Arizona whispered, and Callie wasn't sure when medical jargon had been added to the list of things that turned her on, _somewhere around med school probably_ , but even when it was as simple as 'non-emergent' in the ambrosiaed sex voice of Dr. Arizona Robbins, Callie couldn't help but whimper into blonde hair, "Do you need me to fuck you Mrs. Robbins?"

When **didn't** Callie need that.

And even though she didn't answer with words or action, the quick and forceful intrusion of Arizona's fingers into her aching core and a hard press of a thumb to her clit sent Callie into a tsunami of an orgasm, riding her wife's fingers and hands, her own fingers probably leaving bruises and scrapes along the nape of Arizona's neck and her ass where Callie was clinging to for dear life.

Seconds later Arizona's pager went off again, and Callie shuddered as fingers were withdrawn from her and moaned when Arizona slid them into her mouth, her own moan filling Callie with need once more.

"Can you stand?" Arizona asked, her small body still mostly supporting Callie. With a sigh, Callie placed both of her feet firmly on the ground and stood on her own, she was shaky but could stand without assistance. "Good. I'll page you when I'm done."

And with that, and one last press of soft lips against her own, and the blonde's lab coat slipping through her tense grip, she was gone and Callie was left leaning against the wall of the supply closet, her ragged breathing not able to slow or steady itself.

888*

Jackson had removed her stitches after their brief tryst in the supply closet, so Callie had come home with Timmy. Sofia was still in school, so she'd decided that she and her son would have a date. They'd had a bath, sort of, the low water level for Timmy would make her cold, so she'd sat with him in her bathing suit while he'd sat between her legs, playing with toys and her fingers. They'd had lunch together, she'd had a sandwich and carrot sticks, his meal consisting of strained peas and small bites of her bread. They'd had a nap, her lounging along the couch as Timmy slept heavily on her chest. Then she'd made dinner while he babbled away in his high chair, which is where they were when Arizona got home with Sofia.

And apparently brought Alex and Jo with them.

"Go get your bag ready, bug." Arizona had said, and without even a hello from her daughter, Sofia ran past the kitchen and straight to her bedroom.

Lifting Timmy from his high chair just as the three adults came into the room, it wasn't more than a second that Arizona was by her side and taking Timmy.

"I didn't know we were having guests for dinner?" She said, not having made enough to feed Alex, let alone Alex, Jo, and her own family.

"Oh they're not staying," Arizona said while she pressed a flurry of kissing over giggling Timmy's face, "I'm cashing in."

"Huh?" She asked, looking between them.

But all Alex whispered was "Friggen Roller Girl," as Timmy was passed from Arizona to Jo, her ever expanding tummy making it a bit more difficult for her to hold the squirming baby.

"Alex owes me a weekend of free babysitting, so since we are all off tonight I'm cashing in. Though they do have to work tomorrow at noon, so they'll drop them off here on their way in." Arizona with a smile, leaving the room. Callie stuck her head around the corner and watched as she first stopped to check on Sofia, and then made her way to Timmy's room.

"Huh?" She said lamely, turning back to Alex and Jo, matching smiles on their faces as they both looked down at Timmy.

Alex looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and reached up to cover Timmy's ears, her son loving this game and letting out a shriek of a giggle as Alex finally said "Your wife needs sex Torres. Lots of sex."

Though it appeared that his efforts to avoid saying bad things in front of her children was pointless because almost ten year old Sofia came into the room and asked "What's sex?"

Callie, Alex, and Jo all shouted "Nothing!" similar blushes rushing up Alex and Callie's cheeks as Jo and Timmy just laughed at the outburst.

It wasn't a minute more before Arizona, apparently headless to what she'd just walked in on, started moving around the kitchen collecting extra bottles and jars of baby food and stuffing them quickly into the bag, chattering the whole way.

"Callie?" Apparently this wasn't the first time that Arizona had said her name, because the five of them were staring at her, a small spit bubble forming in the corner of Timmy's mouth as he giggled some more at her, his dimples popping even more than his momma's.

"Hmm?"

"Have you fed the baby?" Arizona asked again, much slower than her normally fast talking wife would.

But once Alex had whispered "sex" Callie knew that she was a lost cause anyway.

"Oh, right! No, no I haven't fed him yet. Or Sofia." Sofia looked at her, a small smile on her face, as she realized that she hadn't yet said hello to her mommy.

"Hi mommy!" Her daughter said, coming over quickly for a hug and a kiss.

"You're spending the night with Uncle Alex and Aunt Jo, that should be fun right!" _sex with Arizona, sex with her wife, sex, sex, sex, sex…._

"Yeah! Uncle Alex said we'd play Mario Kart and Aunt Jo said we could listen to her baby with a, with a, steth-" Just as Callie was about to supply the word, Sofia shouted "stethoscope!" And Timmy yelled along with her, everyone else laughing.

"Well that sounds like a lot of fun, _mija_!" She said kneeling for another kiss from her daughter.

While Arizona handed her keys to Alex, Callie could only watch from the doorway as her wife gently readjusted the straps that Jo had done up on Timmy's car seat, explaining everything as Jo nodded along. Sometimes Callie couldn't believe that Alex Karev was about to be a father. Even watching him with Sofia the last ten years, and Timmy the last six months, and Meredith's kids and the peds kids… Alex Karev being a father was almost incomprehensible to Callie. But watching him chatter and ensure that Sofia was buckled and that Jo was buckled as well before he drove away, Callie knew he'd be good at it.

But then a swish of blonde hair caught the setting sun as her wife sauntered up the walkway, hips swaying with an undeniably sexy cadence, all thoughts of… _what's his name again_ … flew out of her head.

This time it was Arizona who had her pressed against the door quickly, surprising Callie with the force of her ministrations, and the way that dominate Arizona nearly made her melt on the spot. With only a quick stop into the kitchen to turn off the stove and oven, Callie and Arizona moved as one fumbling and rough mass, from the entryway to the kitchen and finally to the bedroom.

8*

Hours, and multiple rounds, later Arizona couldn't help but sigh into Callie's embrace as she settled against her wife's chest in their large bathtub. Because she hadn't informed Callie of her plans, she had ruined the dinner that Callie had been making before her return home, and they had ordered take out, which they had eaten together in their bed naked. Now they were embraced under the warm water of their ridiculously large bathtub, that Callie had special ordered so that it covered her knees and her boobs (which, good thinking Calliope), and it was all Arizona could do to watch as the tanned hands of her wife trailed lazily up and down the skin of her abdomen, her own hands following similar patterns on caramel thighs. There were two half empty wine glasses on the edge of the tub, the room lit only by the soft flickering of tea lights.

All in all it was a mostly perfect evening. It could only be made better if their children were there, but as it was, it was excellent.

"I had another blonde in this tub with me today," Callie whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Arizona wondered if that feeling would ever go away, the desire and want she felt for the woman whose arms she rested in. "Big, ridiculously blue eyes… dimples…"

Arizona could hear the teasing tilt in her wife's tone, knowing that Timmy loved tubby-time with them. "Hmm, how'd that go?" She teased back.

"It was a bit more… splashy. We really made some waves."

Arizona loved this part of their relationship, the way that they could tease and flirt with each other, even after hours of lovemaking, could feel the way that Callie loved her by the way strong arms encircled her waist, the gentle caress of fingers over her skin.

"Calliope Torres, I do believe you are trying to make me jealous."

"Is it working?" A gentle kiss was placed behind her ear, and Arizona felt her breath catch. Callie had been the only person to discover that spot behind her right ear, the one that set her heart racing and her stomach a flutter. And it seemed that Callie loved it as much as Arizona did.

"Maybe a little."

"Only a little? Are you saying I've lost my game?" Callie husked in her ear, fingers now roaming over her clavicle and the top of her breasts, without actually dipping down to where Arizona much preferred those hands to be. But this teasing was nice.

"Hmm, you had game?"

"Hey!" It was breathless and raspy in her ear, another shiver of desire running down her spine. Callie Torres definitely had game, and when it came to her wife, Arizona would always lose. Except it was definitely a win, because when she did bring out her moves, somehow it always ended with Arizona on her back - against a bed or a wall or any surface really, because she was powerless to her wife.

"Should we think of names our babies?" Callie asked, the teasing lit of her tone not going away, but the change in topic had Arizona reeling. She knew that this night would end with her on her back in their bed, _again,_ but for now she would take this because the mention of their twins filled Arizona with so much more love than she had ever envisioned having in her life, and to have them with Callie, well it was a dream come true.

"Do you have any ideas?" Arizona asked. Because she didn't. Mark and Callie had named Sofia, well mostly Callie. It was even Callie that gave Sofia the middle name Robbin, with two 'b's for her, the poor child having to carry the name of three prominent surgeons. Not that Arizona minded, she loved that he daughter was named after her, but all of their children would carry four names, and so far both had been named for important people. If Sofia, who wanted to be a doctor like them, achieved that dream Arizona worried that the pressure of being named after the three of them might be too much.

Even though both Jackson and Meredith had told her that it was difficult at times, to live under the expectations of others, and she knew that with her own name, it was a driving force to prove that they were more than their name. And it wasn't like that was the only thing Sofia had ever wanted to be, her mind changed every six months, and though she'd come back to surgeon multiple times, she was still barely ten years old. When Arizona was ten she'd wanted to be a plumber, so children's dreams change.

"I have a few," Callie replied. Which was fine, one of Callie's dreams had always been to be a mother. She probably had a diary somewhere with lists of names, which just the thought of made Arizona chuckle. "Why are you laughing?"

"I was just picturing young Callie daydreaming about her future babies and making lists and plans." Which Arizona knew that Callie had adjusted since they'd been together. Callie had named Timmy after her brother. And though she'd chosen the name Carlos as his middle name, that was the extent of her input except to agree.

"No comment." Was all Callie said with a chuckle.

"You know I never expected to be a mother, so I didn't ever really daydream about babies, much less plan names for them. Even with Timmy and Sofia, you said their names first, and they just fit and were perfect."

"They're your kids too Arizona, you should have some input." It was said softly, and with love, warming Arizona from the inside.

"Well, why don't you give me some suggestions and we'll talk it out? Or should we make a list and talk to Alex and Jo, so we don't double dip?" At that Arizona felt Callie tense briefly, and felt the cheek she had her temple resting against warm from a blush.

"We, uh, we don't have to talk to them." Arizona almost laughed at the hesitation in Callie's voice, but her arms and body had relaxed under herself, and Arizona was intrigued.

"Why not?" She asked.

"Because I know what they are going to name him."

"Him?"

"Yes, Alex and Jo are having a boy." Arizona smiled at the thought.

"So? What's his name?"

"I, um, I-I-I um," stuttering Callie was one of Arizona's favourite Callie's. But stuttering Callie was hiding something from her, and she needed to know.

"What are you hiding from me Calliope?"

"Nothing!" Which was an obvious lie, but Arizona lifted herself from Callie's arms and turned to face her wife, her own arms sliding around Callie's neck, as the arms of wife losely encircled her waist.

"Don't make me full name you Calliope Torres."

"You wouldn't."

"Yes I would, Calliope Iphi-" But she was cut off quickly as Callie placed a hand over her mouth to stop her from saying the dreaded middle name.

" _Yo prometí,_ " Callie whispered. Spanish usually only came out when she was especially nervous and angry. Or turned on. But this was definitely nerves.

But two could play at that game. Her accent wasn't the best, still, but she took lessons with Mark for almost a year and a half so they could speak Spanish to the baby, and then with Sofia once she was born. She was hardly fluid enough to hold a conversation with Carlos or any other Spanish speaker, but she knew enough to lean in and whisper " _Sí, pero soy tu esposa, ¿no debería eso hacer una promesa Karev?"_

" _No, tú eres mi esposa, pero una promesa es una promesa."_

Switching back to English, Arizona leaned in for a quick kiss and whispered, "Fine, a promise is a promise, but I won't forget this."

Callie gave her another kiss, deeper and more languid this time, before pulling back just enough to whisper against her lips, "If we get close to what they've chosen, I'll tell you."

"Mmmhmm," Arizona whispered, placing another chaste kiss on her wife's lips. "So, boys or girls first?" Their twins would be identical. IVF and hormone therapy had a high probability of twins, especially if the genetics of the biological parents were predisposed to twins, but since they had only implanted one egg, their second to last one, they would be the same sex.

"I think we're having girls." Callie said, and though neither of them cared what they had as long as the babies were healthy and didn't fall prey to the whole _Seattle Grace Mercy Death_ thing, they would be happy.

"Okay, so what names did young Callie dream of for girls?"

"There's a few, Sofia was always the first one I'd dreamed of." It was the very first name that Callie had whispered after she'd woken up and told her that it was a girl. Arizona had known after the 20-week ultrasound for Sofia, years of looking at the grainy picture and training made it almost instantaneous for her, and even though she'd tried not to look, tried in vain not to give in to her curiosity and to be surprised with Callie like they had decided, she had known. She respected Callie and Mark enough not to tell them, even if Mark had wanted to know. But for Timmy, and now these twins, they'd had the surrogate ask to have the genitals covered so they would actually be surprised.

"Do you have a top five? Maybe top ten, because we need four names." Arizona replied.

"Uhh, sure. Abigail, Mary, Emma, Sara, uh…" Callie trailed off.

"Can one of their middle names be Barbara?" Arizona interrupted.

Callie's face softened, "Of course. Momma Robbins should have a baby named after her."

Arizona leaned in for another kiss. "I like Abigail. Abby. Sof and Timmy and Abby. What else you got, Torres?"

"Abby and, let's see, uhh. Vanessa, Clara, Zoe-"

"Zoe? Like Z-O-E or Z-O-E-Y?"

"Uhh, which would you prefer?" Callie asked, her hands trailing up and down Arizona's back, while Arizona played with the fine hair at the back of her wife's neck.

"Either, I like the A and the Z together. But now that I say that out loud it kind of sounds like a nickname that people used to call me. 'AZ' because of the whole 'I have the same name as a state thing.'"

Callie blushed again, and averted her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing! It's nothing." It was obviously something. "Maybe we should give them state names too." It was a deflection, but Arizona narrowed her gaze at Callie who was still not looking at her.

"Sure it's nothing," but she would let it go because Arizona now knew what their daughter's names would be if they had girls. "So, I've made a decision. Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Callie said, finally turning her gaze back to Arizona, surprise and intrigue written across her beautiful features.

"Zoey, with a 'y', Zoey Barbara Robbins-Torres."

"Mmm, I like it." Callie sealed the first name with a kiss.

"Abigail Calliope Robbins-Torres."

"Nope, unuh, nope, not saddling another person with that ridiculous name." The vehement tone of Callie's practically yelled statement caused Arizona to burst out laughing. "Much less my own daughter. Nope, not happening Arizona." And all Arizona did was laugh again.

"I happen to think it's a beautiful name," She pulled Callie closer and pressed a passionate kiss against her lips, "Calliope." She whispered her wife's name into her mouth, deepening the kiss and she could feel the shiver run through Callie's body. "You don't agree?"

Callie just groaned against her, more from arousal than frustration as she whispered it directly into Callie's ear, "Calliope."

Callie tried to deny it again with a shake of her head, so Arizona whispered into Callie's ear, snaking her tongue out to lick the shell of the ear bent towards her, another shudder shaking the frame of her wife, "I'll change my mind if you tell me what Alex and Jo are going to name their son… Calliope."

Callie just huffed in frustration, and sighed. "Fine."

Arizona laughed again, fully knowing that she wouldn't change her mind about revealing her secret. She hadn't expected her to, so she offered, "If you really don't like it, don't want to name her that, we don't have to."

"It's not that I don't like it, I mean I hate my name, why do you think I go by 'Callie,' it's just, we both have weird names."

"Hey, I have an awesome name!" Callie blushed again, but this time her gaze stayed firmly on Arizona's and she got lost in the espresso depths of her wife's eyes, eyes that she would never tire of getting lost in.

"You do, Arizona Daniel Robbins, even with a boys name for a middle name and a state for a first name, even though you're named after a battleship. It is an awesome name. But, come on, even you have to admit that it was hard at times growing up."

Arizona thought back to all the times she's been made fun of, by kids and by adults who thought that it couldn't possibly be her name. She'd gotten scrappy because of it, been in more fights because of it, her and Tim had been sent to the principal's office and suspended because of it, but she wouldn't change it.

"If her middle name is 'Calliope' her initials would be the same as ours." Arizona whispered.

"Huh?"

"A-C-R-T. Arizona Robbins and Calliope Torres. Abigail Calliope Robbins-Torres. A-C-R-T."

"I'll let you name her Calliope, but I am still not going to tell you what Karev and Wilson are naming their son." Callie said with a huff, and Arizona pulled her in for another kiss. This one heating them in the rapidly cooling water of their shared bath.

"Fine," Arizona moaned into the kiss that Callie was giving her. They couldn't make a baby together, but they could, and had, celebrated choosing every name by making love. And though they hadn't yet chosen names in case they had boys, Arizona didn't want to wait any longer. "Take me to bed, Calliope."

Callie practically shoved her away, and Arizona giggled as Callie scrambled out of the tub. She didn't waste any time bending and scooping Arizona up out of the tub and into her arms. Arizona wrapped her arms around Callie's neck to hang on, her right leg snaking around the strong hips of her wife as she was carried from the on suite into the bedroom.

"What about boys names?' Callie asked between deep and passionate kisses, after having thrown her on the bed and then crawled over her to rest against her, lips attached to Arizona's neck drawing a moan from the blonde.

"Later, just make love to me."

888*

They hadn't made it to boys names that night, which was perfectly fine with Callie, because she was certain that they were having girls. Though, she had been certain that Timmy was going to be a girl too, so who really knows. Besides, they were only six months along, so given the statistics and generally early delivery of twins, they still had another two months to give it some thought. And while the idea of having three babies under one was daunting, Callie was excited. Very, very excited.

Especially given that she'd almost let it slip last night that Karev and Wilson were planning on naming their son Arizona. Which was surely something else. She'd known Karev since he was an intern, could remember the way that her wife was finally one of the people who had actually chosen the young man, the way he blossomed because she saw something in him. She also knew that Arizona was practically blind to the effect she'd had on him as a surgeon. Just like she was practically blind to the way she had an effect on all of the interns and residents she'd ever taught. And even though her wife had placed her own Catherine Fox award next to hers on their mantle, the blue eyes would narrow in negativity when she looked at them sitting there together.

She'd told Arizona that it was her turn to come up with a list of boys names, that this time Callie would look at her list and then they would talk it out. But that had been a month ago, and for some reason her wife, who'd met more newborn babies than god, had amassed several books and printed pages from the US Censor board and spent hours pouring over the lists of "Most Popular Boy Names" since the 1970's. Arizona had even gone out and purchased a special notebook where she spent time writing notes and lists, none of which Callie hadn't even seen yet. When given a task, Arizona was nothing if not over prepared.

"Do you know why they named her Arizona?" Meredith asked her, breaking the quiet of the OR. They had been working together in silence, the MVC victim on their table, for hours.

"Sometimes I forget that Arizona is the name of a state." Kepner added after a moment, and Callie couldn't help looking between her friends.

Checking the gallery and seeing only interns and residents, Callie was determined to keep this secret for Karev and Wilson, so she said "Plus make sure the microphone to the gallery is off." The scrub nurse who checked their phones for them, moved to the small white box and ensured that it was off and nodded at Callie. "This conversation doesn't leave this room, okay?"

Several of the nurses nodded, Meredith and April just stared at her. "I need you to agree out loud." A chorus of agreement reached her ears.

"Why do you ask?" Callie finally asked, glancing at Meredith before looking back to the shoulder she was working on.

"Alex told me-"

"Shh, shh, quiet!" Practically hissed, glaring at Meredith.

After a pause, Meredith continued, "-he told me that you and I were going to be the godparents." It was a lame finish, but soft congratulations were offered from the nurses and the anesthesiologist in the room, April adding a "yay," as well.

"Arizona was not named after the state," she answered Meredith and April's original statements, looks of surprise on a couple of the nurses faces. "She was named after the battleship. The USS Arizona."

"But why?" The anesthesiologist asked, and Callie sighed.

"Her grandfather, Timothy Robbins, was stationed at Pearl Harbour." Arizona hadn't even told her this story, The Colonel did. He hadn't even told her, he had been talking to baby Sofia when they had visited them shortly after Sofia's birth, and she'd overheard him whispering it to her. The anesthesiologist nodded, he must be a history buff, but others looked a little confused. But this wasn't her story to tell, if Arizona hadn't shared with them, she wouldn't. She had just needed to say enough to quiet Meredith.

Thankfully, her friend seemed to get the hint, _this time_ , and changed the subject, "Have you two thought of a name yet?"

"Girls names, yes. But not boys." She replied.

"What did you choose?" April asked, in giddy excitement. April knew that she was going to be the godmother, well one of them. Meredith again, too. And Addison, but they still needed a fourth and neither she nor Arizona could think of who it should be. Callie was going to suggest Andrew because he'd already started speaking Italian to Timmy and he was still Uncle Andrew to Sofia.

"Zoey Barbara and Abigail Calliope," She groaned when she said her own name.

But Meredith and April had both stopped and looked at her, shock in their eyes, both of their eyebrows raised under their scrub caps. _Crap_. She'd forgotten that they hadn't told anyone that they were having twins yet.

"Are you…" Meredith said, while at the same time April asked "Twins?"

"Cynthia, can you grab my phone and text Dr. Robbins, please?"

The scrub nurse nodded, and indicated that she was ready to type what Callie dictated. _Let slip to Mer and April about twins. Oops._

Message sent, Callie looked at her friends who were both smiling at her, "Surprise." She offered meekly. Her phone pinged with an incoming message which Cynthia then read out loud to her. _I accidentally told Bailey, Richard, and Owen yesterday. They saw my book._ Everyone in the OR laughed.

"Dibs on Abigail!" April practically shouted, to which both Callie and Meredith asked.

"You can't dibs on a baby April," Meredith scolded. "Plus Callie will give me Abigail."

"I don't think that's how 'dibs' works Meredith," April responded, their teasing light as they both continued to work on the patient in front of them. Callie was almost finished closing the shoulder she was working on, ready to move down to the wrist.

"Or you can both have Abby." She offered.

Finished with her shoulder, she watched as they nodded at each other and then resumed their work. They really were a village.


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: So there's this website that you can look up names and see how often a name was entered into the US Censor, and since 2009 there has been a huge spike in the number of people named Arizona (both boys and girls). Do you know what happened in 2009? Arizona Robbins was added to the Grey's Anatomy cast. I'm fairly certain you could have made that connection yourself, but I didn't want to chance it.**

Walking through the car dealership with Timmy wrapped to her chest, his joyful babbling providing an uninterrupted stream of noise, Arizona couldn't help but be a little overwhelmed. In less six weeks she and Callie were going to have four children, three of whom were under 12 months, and they needed a new car that could hold the three infant carriers plus one ten year old. Hence why she was at the car dealership.

Though they had wanted to do this together, Meredith had asked if she could pick up her kids from school. And then April and Jackson had both asked separately if she could pick up Harriet. So here she was, with Callie's blessing, to choose one of the SUV's that Callie had looked at. Which, if Arizona were honest, was a little unfair. Callie got to pick SUV's and she had to choose names for boys. Which she still hadn't done. Even though the twins could come any day now, all she had were lists and pros and cons.

She'd wanted to ask every parent she came in contact with since Callie had told her it was now her job, but every time she had delivered a baby (13 times) since then, she saw mostly the same warring emotions on the parents faces. She didn't know how to choose a name, well not a first name. She'd chosen Timmy's middle name, she'd chosen the middle names if the twins were girls, but Callie wanted her input on all four names. It was a huge deal.

And Arizona was worried she'd mess it up.

The only people she had talked about it with was Timmy and Sofia. That's all she and Timmy has been talking about this whole morning. He was less than helpful because every time she suggested one, he'd giggle a little, or smile at her, or wrap his chubby baby fingers around her necklace or shirt collar and tug. Either he was purposely being unhelpful for a ten month old, or he'd really liked every name she said.

Except for the one name she suggested, "Fred" he'd gotten all squirmy and started to cry. Granted, Arizona knew that it was because he needed a change and was hungry, which the owner of the dealership they had been at nicely let her use his personal bathroom to do so, but the name was quickly abandoned. Even if she had tried to explain to Timmy that it was going to be Fred of "Fred and George" because Callie was secretly a giant Harry Potter nerd, and Maggie was a not so secret giant Harry Potter nerd, but Timmy still hadn't budged.

Okay, so maybe she was a giant Harry Potter nerd too, but that's beside the point. _Gryffindorks the lot of them._

"Mr. Robbins-Torres," she replied to some of his babbling, "we have only a couple hours to choose this vehicle before we have to get Ellis, so if you don't want to help choose names for your little brothers, at least help me pick a colour for the car."

His only answer was a squeal of delight and to tug a little roughly on her hair.

" _Mami_ said dark colours, mijo," she responded, gently extracting her hair from his fingers, "but momma wants something light, and happy."

Timmy was going to be a loud child, and probably a commanding man, because he squealed once more with accompanying pats to her chest where his hands were.

They were soon interrupted in their musings over names and colours by a young saleswoman, "Hello, my name is Michelle, can I be of any assistance?" The woman smiled at Arizona, and then smiled a bit wider when Timmy gave a loud yell of happiness.

"Hi, yes please. I'm Arizona." She replied, trying to talk over Timmy's incessant ramblings, he got that from Callie, "And this is Timmy."

"Hello Timmy." Michelle said, "Do you know what you're looking for today Arizona?"

"Well my wife gave me a list of vehicles, but I do have some questions." She replied. The most important was if she could climb in with her prosthetic to put the carriers in by herself. That was really her only requirement. Callie had already done the research about which vehicles could safely hold three car seats and a ten year old and two adults. "Also, do you have three spare car seats for us to try and put in the vehicle?"

"Three?" Michelle asked, a surprised eyebrow raising.

"Yes, three."

"We do have one, I'm sure, but I don't think we have three." The indigent huff that Timmy let out, probably at being ignored by his momma for the last five minutes, made both women chuckle.

"Well, I have Timmy's here in my car, plus two more in the trunk, is it possible we can try them?" She was suddenly glad that she came prepared. She couldn't choose names for her potential sons, but she could, and had, made sure that whatever vehicle she chose today she could maneuver them into.

"Yes, that's absolutely fine. If you tell me where your car is parked," she turned away from Arizona as she was speaking and waved over a young man in overalls, "Jim will get them for us." Arizona pointed her car out to the young man and handed over her keys and watched as he walked away.

"So, which would you like to try first?"

"Uhh, the Navigator I think." That had been Callie's top choice. Arizona didn't care either way, except about the safety ratings - even though Callie had looked at that already - and whether or not she would be able to get in with her leg.

The next thirty minutes were passed with continued babbling from Timmy who didn't even fuss when he was handed to Michelle so Arizona and Jim could install the bases of the infant carriers as well as Timmy's, and then her son didn't fuss more when he was handed to Jim who looked extremely uncomfortable as Michelle showed her how to lower the rear passenger seat so that she would have easier access to the back row where the two infant carriers would be. Another half hour later, the papers were signed Timmy's car seat was installed, as was Ellis' booster, Jim and one of his coworkers returned the extra car seats to her car and drove it to her house for her, and she was off with Timmy to pick up Ellis from her half day at kindergarten.

She treated Ellis and Timmy to lunch at a fancy children's restaurant, and then ice cream, before the three of them did some baby shopping. They had most of what they needed for the new babies but they would need double, as well as choosing a baby shower present for Alex and Jo. Ellis had chosen a ridiculously soft _and expensive_ stuffed rabbit for them and Timmy had agreed with another squeal of delight so Arizona bought one for him too, but he got a giraffe. They had a minor dance party in the car while they quickly grabbed Sofia, who gave Timmy a quick kiss and a tickle to her napping brother, as well as Bailey and Zola and Harriet before their intrepid group of seven, returned to her house for dinner and a movie while they all waited for their parents to come home.

888*

It had been a long day of surgery, but Callie was finally ready to get home, Meredith and April following behind her in their own cars to pick up their children. Arizona had taken a week off before the start of her upcoming fellowships because she wouldn't be able to take any maternity leave when the twins came because of it. Callie had held her wife while she cried about that fact, twice, but had promised to bring the babies - all four of their children - to the hospital as often as she could.

Chatting softly with her two friends as they opened the front door to her house, they were met with the semi-loud strains of an upbeat pop song. It was quickly apparent that no one inside the house heard them enter because as Callie stood with Meredith and April at the entrance to the living room, they were met with the sight of seven people dancing in their underwear, clothes flung about the room with wanton abandon.

The three of them watched in stunned silence for several minutes, the five older children were all laughing and trying to sing along to the lyrics, and Timmy in just his diaper was laughing as Arizona swung him about the scene only wearing a tank top and some lacy pink boy shorts.

It was Arizona who noticed them first, blue eyes going wide and a flush of embarrassment rising rapidly as she caught sight of the three of them. Callie could only laugh as cries of protests were made from the children when her wife had turned off the music and pointed to the three laughing adults. Suddenly they were surrounded by excited chatter and "moms" and "mommys" and half naked hugs as the five older children yammered about their afternoon with Arizona.

When Arizona came over, Callie couldn't help but fall a little more in love with her wife, the flush of embarrassment not yet receding as she stood clad only in her underwear. When Timmy caught sight of her, he reached his arms toward her and Callie lifted her squirmy son into her arms, pressing a flurry of soft kisses to his giggling face. She watched as Arizona quickly found her pants and slid them on.

"Mommy," Sofia interrupted and Callie quickly realized that all five kids had gone silent, Timmy was babbling softly into her chest as he fought the sleep that was quickly overtaking him. "Can we have a sleepover?"

"It's a school night, _mija_." Was all she could reply, all five pairs of wide eyes staring at her.

"Please mommy?" Sofia pleaded, with vigorous nods from the other four.

At a loss for an answer, Callie could only look at April and Meredith who looked just as lost as she felt. But it was Arizona who answered, "I'm off again tomorrow, so I can handle school drop offs. We had homework hour, and dinner-" she was cut off as all the children yelled 'and cake' and Arizona flushed deeper with embarrassment, "yes, and cake. So it's okay with me."

The children were smart enough not to say anything, just turn five sets of wide and hopeful eyes to their respective parents, waiting and hoping for the answer they all wanted.

"Sweetie, you have to call your dad and ask him," April finally cracked. Harriet nodded quickly, swiftly taking April's phone and calling Jackson. Callie could hear her chatting away with him, as Meredith softly spoke to her own kids.

Arizona slipped in besider Callie, leaning against her, and Callie quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her wife's temple. Her blonde hair was falling out of a high ponytail, and she was clean of makeup and any presentation but she was the most beautiful woman in the world to Callie, seeing her in her element with the many many children. Pretty soon they were going to have four of their own, and though she had only seen the underwear dance party (which, hot by the way, even if that thought was inappropriate with six children and two of their closest friends around), it warmed Callie's heart how much Arizona had given herself to Callie's dream. She knew that it was Arizona's dream too, but seeing it happen, was a reality that she'd never tire of.

Suddenly Harriet was in front of her holding out April's phone, "Daddy says he needs to talk to you Aunty Callie."

Taking the device, Callie said "Hey Jackson."

"Hey Callie, Harriet can stay tonight, that's fine with me, but she needs a new uniform for tomorrow. I can't come by until later to bring you one." Callie could hear the sounds of the ER in the background.

"That's fine Jackson, just bring one by when you can." But April gestured to herself, whispering ' _I have an extra in the car,'_ "Oh, Jackson, April says she has an extra in the car."

"Oh perfect. Thanks Callie."

"No problem," she said handing the phone back to Harriet who squealed with delight, and was quickly joined by Meredith's kids and Sofia as they all squealed and danced about in their underwear.

After Meredith left, and returned with three sets of clothes (and extras in case her children spent another school night) and April retrieved the extra uniform from her car (also with a promise of getting an extra uniform so they had one at their house), Callie put Timmy down while Arizona supervised bath time with Bailey, Ellis, and Harriet in their room, where the larger tub was, while Callie supervised Sofia and Zola in the smaller bathroom near Sofia's room.

Poor Bailey had to wear some of Sofia's pyjamas, the pink sweatpants rolled up so his shorter legs and feet were sticking out, but he'd refused to wear a pink shirt (which Callie felt was valid and fair) so he was going shirtless. The girls had a happy and joyful time of choosing between Sofia's pyjamas with Callie, while Arizona set up the air mattress with piles of blankets and pillows in the living room. It was going to be a proper slumber party, even though it was a school night, the five children settled on couches and the air mattress, not even fighting about what movie to watch as they went to sleep.

"We need a bigger house Calliope." Arizona whispered beside her as they stood at the threshold of the living room, the TV now dark and five sets of steady even breathing indicating that all of the children were asleep.

Wrapping her arms around her wife's waist, Callie pulled Arizona's back flush to her front and rested her chin on the smaller woman's shoulder as they watched over their nieces and nephew.

Arizona was right, Callie knew, they no longer had an office or a guest room, because the last guest room had been converted to the twins room. And they both knew that eventually their new kids would probably want separate rooms, even if that didn't happen for years. Then there was the fact that they had one embryo left. It was way too soon to think about that one, and what it could possibly mean, but if they chose to use it, it was potentially another two rooms that they would need. As they hadn't expected these twins.

"Yeah," she agreed softly, placing a soft kiss to the side of Arizona's neck.

Her wife hummed in appreciation, and tightened her grip on Callie's arms, but they stayed watching the children sleep.

"Have you come up with a list of names?" She asked softly, chuckling a bit at the way that Arizona tensed a bit before relaxing.

"No." It was breathed on an air of frustration from her wife, and Callie couldn't help by chuckle. It had been almost a month since Callie hand informed Arizona that it was her duty to choose boys names, but she hadn't broached the subject again, knowing that Arizona would come to her when she was ready. "Because you still won't tell me what Alex and Jo are naming their son, so I don't know where to begin."

"Arizona, I promise you, whatever you choose will be different from what they chose." Because that baby was going to be named Arizona, whether her wife wanted it to be or not. A few weeks ago, Jo had asked Callie about the name and what she thought of it, what she knew about why Arizona was named. Callie answered her questions, like she had Meredith and April and the whole OR, and thankfully everyone had kept their promise and not told.

And then Jo had asked her if she could call Arizona's mom, to talk to her. The conversation had taken almost twenty minutes while she and Jo had sat in a locked and darkened on-call room, the phrase ' _my husband wants to name my kid Arizona'_ falling from Jo's lips, and Callie swore she could hear Momma Robbins laugh a little bit. The Colonel had come on the line and explained, and then Jo just sat and nodded and 'mmhmm'd' and 'yeah'd' as she listened to her in-laws explain. But then a smile came over Jo's face as she made the Robbins' promise not to reveal it to their daughter and passed the phone back to Callie, Barbara exclaiming with delight and The Colonel's gruff voice filled with pride as they confirmed with her about their friends intentions.

And it seemed that Arizona was still in the dark, even if she had suspicions about what Alex and Jo had decided. The way her eyebrow would crinkle a little bit when she looked at them, the way she would just stare at Alex when he and Jo were together. Callie knew that her wife had begun to suspect what was about to happen, but she also knew that the blonde didn't know for sure, and hadn't brought it up with either of them.

"We should go to bed, sweetie," Callie whispered, slipping her hand into Arizona's and leading them to their bedroom. They quietly prepared for bed after checking on Timmy together, and slipped into their bed, meeting in the middle as a jumble of arms and legs, sharing a pillow and space, and all the love and devotion in the world between them.

"So I have some ideas," Arizona finally whispered.

"Yeah?" Callie asked back.

"Yeah. At first I wanted to stick with the A and Z thing. Aaron, Abe, Andy, August, Axel, and the Zack and Zane and none of those sound good together to me. I liked August and Zach, but then I realized people would call him Gus or Auggie and then I didn't like it anymore." Arizona rambled quickly and softly, her fingers trailing up and down Callie's side. All she could do though, was watch as dozens of different emotions contorted the face of the woman she loved, watch as her wife struggled with this concept. "So I scrapped A and Z."

"Okay," Callie offered, excited about how much thought and effort that Arizona had put into this, and was still putting into it.

"But then I scrapped C and T and A and R and B, D, E, Q, X, Y, and F. Because the only F name I could come up with was Fred and Timmy didn't like it."

"You talked about this with Timmy?" Callie asked, surprise filling her.

"Well yeah, he can't reveal my secrets." Callie laughed at Arizona's tone and the missing 'obviously' from the end of her sentence. "Then I just threw out U and V and W, as well as H and G and I and J for good measure."

"How did you choose which ones to scrap?" Callie asked.

"I had Sofia write the alphabet down, and then we choose them from a bowl to eliminate them from contention."

"You had Sofia help you choose too?" Would her wife ever run out of surprises? "Why didn't she tell me?"

"I may or may not have promised her a toy of her choosing if she kept our secret."

"Arizona!"

"What? She's ten! She knows how to talk! Also I bought her a new book as half the deal."

Callie couldn't help but laugh.

"So anyway, then she and I each chose two slips, and Timmy knocked the bowl over sending the rest of them flying, but one landed in his lap, so he basically chose the fifth letter that I'm choosing from, and these are just for first names, I haven't even gotten to middle names yet." The exasperation in Arizona's tone made Callie laugh again.

"What are the five for first names?" She asked.

"M, S, L, O, and P."

"Okay, top two or three for each letter."

"Okay. For S, Santiago, Spencer, and Scott. I'm leaning toward Spencer though, but I was also thinking that since Sofia is spelled the Spanish way, maybe Santiago. We could call him Santi."

"I like Spencer. Spence." Callie offered.

"You do?" Arizona asked, a bit of wonder in her tone.

"I do." Callie nodded, leaning forward to capture her wife's lips, sealing the choice of the first name with a kiss. "So, what else you got?"

"Oliver and Oscar, like Oscar the Grouch. Which is what people will call him. But I like Ollie. L I have Liam, Luke, and Leif. But there's Leif Erikson and the whole 'Luke I am your father thing' and he won't have a father. P I have Parker, Pablo, and Pierre, no thoughts on any of those really. And for M, I have Matthew, but since you chose Spencer, we'll go with Mateo and Mordecai, we could call him Morty."

Callie laughed at Mordecai and Morty. "I like Mateo. Spencer and Mateo. Spence and Matty."

"Spencer and Mateo," Arizona agreed with another kiss.

"And since you chose Timmy's middle name, and the ones for the girls, I'll choose the boys middle names." Callie offered.

"Oh thank god," Arizona whispered, pressing herself further into Callie's arms and kissing her deeply and passionately.

Pulling away, Callie laughed some more. "Okay, Spencer Oliver and Mateo Isaac?"

"Isaac?" Arizona asked, a quirk of her eyebrow.

"Yeah, I like the name."

Instead of a verbal response, Arizona just pressed another deep kiss to Callie's lips. Normally they would celebrate choosing names by making love, but there were now six children in their house, four of which were not theirs, and that was super inappropriate, so they both reluctantly pulled back, their breathing ragged and chests heaving.

"Do you have any surgeries scheduled tomorrow?" Arizona asked her, small pale hand tracing patterns under her shirt, coming dangerously close to her breasts.

"I should be done around 1, meet me in your office?" Callie asked breathlessly.

"We'll be late for the baby shower." Arizona whispered back, her thigh worming its way between Callie's, pressing barely there pressure against her core. Internally cursing April, Jackson, Meredith, and Derek (god rest his soul), she shifted her hips away and both of them groaned at the loss.

"Your office, one o'clock."

888*

Their coupling in Arizona's office to celebrate choosing names, and just because they could barely keep their hands off each other anyway, hadn't made them late to the baby shower. Which was a good thing since Callie had planned the whole thing with Meredith as they were the godparents, but they had shown up with less than five minutes to spare with matching grins and rumpled hair, knowing smirks on their friends faces.

But Arizona didn't care, she was here in support of her friends, and if those friends knew that he wife had just taken her, roughly and hurriedly and so _goddamn_ thoroughly, they were tactful enough not to say anything.

While Callie and Meredith led Jo through a mess of games and opened presents and did the general baby shower things, as a steady stream of doctors and nurses came through whispering congratulations, Arizona sat contentedly designing a onesie for the new baby. They still had the one that Alex had made them for Sofia, they'd never used it, but the hastily coloured scrubs sat in Sofia's memory box, a similar onesie in Timmy's, that Alex had also made.

"Hey, Robbins, can I talk to you for a minute?" Alex asked, his voice soft and quiet. April looked between her and Alex, confusion on her face and Alex continued, "In private, you know."

She nodded, and left April instructions to save the fabric pens she was using and to not let anyone touch her onesie, and got up to follow Alex. She guessed that by 'privacy' Alex meant the corner of the room, because he hadn't led them out of the room.

"What's up Alex?" She asked, able to guess what he'd wanted to talk about.

"It's uhh, you know, I want to - no, I need to, what I'm trying to say is…" And then he trailed off. Arizona didn't need to guess anymore. Alex Karev wasn't a man who stuttered, or was awkward. Her friend and protege was usually a confident man, except when it came to personal matters.

"You want to name your son 'Arizona.'" She offered with a smile, a small upward quirk of Alex's mouth was the only response she got to that statement, confirming her suspicions.

"Torres told you?" He said after a minute, with a glance at Callie who was currently wrapping a measuring tape around Jo's belly.

"No," she said, defending her wife. _Not with so many words, at least._ But there was blushing, and stuttering, and weird squeals from her parents when she talked to them and they called her Arizona rather than 'Sweets,' and she'd heard the whispers around the hospital about Callie and Meredith being godparents.

Meredith, Arizona had understood, she was friends with both Alex and Jo. But Callie? That one was a bit more difficult to understand. But with the way that Callie had refused to tell her what name Alex and Jo had chosen, even at five months pregnant, and the way that people had begun to whisper about her name, quickly cutting conversations off when she approached, Arizona had known. What she didn't know was why, or how to shut it down. Callie didn't want to name their daughter Calliope, she didn't want to have anyone else saddled with Arizona, despite the awesomeness of her name.

"Do you know why my parents named me Arizona, Alex?" She asked, watching the way his face softened for a second.

"Grandfather, battleship, sacrifice, good man in a storm, all that crap." And Arizona laughed at his answer, his usual brusqueness coming through. "Look, Robbins, I-"

"Still can't even call me Arizona, eh?" She said, laughing again.

With a roll of his eyes, he forced out, "Fine. Arizona." He'd said it again, with a sarcastic tone.

"Fine, Alex. I'm listening." She offered, placing her hand on his arm. She would listen, she would listen and then argue every point her friend made.

"I lied to get into the internship, did you know? Before you, no one ever chose me, you know. No one ever chose me for me, I mean. Mer and O'Malley and Yang, and even Izzie, they chose me because I was there and we basically spent a year living together... and I was an ass. But Yang had cardio and Mer had Shepherd and Izzie and O'Malley they were great at everything. No one wanted me. And then you came along. You saw something in me, and even though I was a pain in your ass, you decided that I was good and that I was enough. Did you know you were the first person to ever tell me that you were proud of me? Not even coaches and teachers and med school, no one ever said "I'm proud of you" to me before. I've been alone a lot of my life. Deadbeat dad, crazy mom and brother and sister, trying so hard to just make it through to tomorrow, to be a doctor, a surgeon, to maybe make myself proud of me for once. I have Jo now, and a baby, a son coming. And Mer and them were my family first, but you were the first to choose me for me, not just because I was there. I love you Robbins. I know I've never said that before but I do. I see what you've survived, what you've gone through, and all that stuff you're named for it, you're it. But you're also my family, you're like a big sister to me, you know?"

Stunned into silence, Arizona could only stare at him. That was the most she'd ever heard him speak at once about personal matters, and he'd said he loved her, which is something she doubted he did a lot, or ever. All of the counterpoints that she'd thought of vanished, the absolute conviction in his voice making her tear up, as she watched him finally offer her a full smile.

So she gave in. "You know he's gonna get in a lot of fights for this, right? Suspended, kids are gonna make fun of him, adults are gonna get confused, people are gonna ask him his name and when he tells them, they'll say 'no, honey, your name, not where you're from.'"

"You turned out great, Robbins," and Arizona laughed, he still didn't want to call her by her first name, "Plus, he'll have you to help him."

Tightening her grip on his arm, she asked "What does Jo think?"

"She was confused at first, even after I explained, but then she made Torres call your parents so she could ask your mom." That explains her parents weirdness.

"What'd she say after?"

"She said that it's not everyday that someone chooses you to be their family, that that is something important, and she'd be honoured to do it." At that, Arizona couldn't help but give Alex a hard hug that he returned. "Also that I lose further naming rights to any future children." They both laughed at that.

"Okay, Alex." She replied, letting him go, tears still falling.

With that he left, and she watched him walk over to Jo and Callie, whispering something to them. Jo offered her a small wave and a nod, which she returned as Callie made her way over to her, still crying in the corner.

No words needed to be said between them as Callie quickly wrapped her arms around her, and she cried into her wife's shoulder.

"How long did you know?" Arizona asked, still speaking to Callie's chest, fists full of navy scrub top as the party continued around them.

"He told me the day of the explosion."

"And you kept it a secret for that long?" She wasn't mad, she understood why Callie had done it. Especially now she knew that her wife wanted to let Alex and Jo come to her, to let them explain it.

"It wasn't my secret to share, Arizona." Callie offered on a whisper. Still standing with her face buried in Callie's chest, all she could was nod.

Once her tears had stopped, Arizona pulled back softly and leaned up to press a kiss to Callie's lips, sending her back to the party for Alex and Jo and baby boy Arizona Karev, as she went back to finish her onesie. Smiling, she finished the outline of the state of Arizona, pleased that she had been correct. She was named for a battleship, but this new Arizona would be named for her, and that was something she could get behind. And Alex was right, she would be there to help little Arizona grow up with the name, would teach him how to fight scrappy like she had to learn, would teach him how to carry it, because it was an awesome name, and would be there for him when he cried because people teased him. She'd had to carry that burden alone as a child, but Arizona Karev wouldn't.

As she finished with her onesie, Arizona stood to get some baby blue cake, but halfway to the food table her phone rang, the name of their surrogate flashing on the screen. Answering quickly, she listened as her boyfriend informed her that they were on their way to the hospital, her water having broken. Hanging up quickly, Arizona turned towards Callie and practically yelled, "Callie, Mary's on her way, she's in labour!"

Callie unceremoniously dropped her own plate of food as the room went silent, Arizona felt the excitement build in her chest as her wife called over her shoulder "Grey, Kepner, Bailey your godchildren are coming!" Everyone gathered erupted into cheers as Callie grabbed her hand and they rushed their way to the entrance of the hospital to wait for their surrogate and their kids.

 **AN2: Do you agree with Alex and Jo? Did Alex's** **explanation** **make sense?**


	20. Chapter 20

**AN: Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I've been trying to better myself with scholastic pursuits (teaching myself Swedish, studying for the MCAT, preparing to enter the military) and also working. I also have another story in the works, it's an AU based off S14E18, which is the same episode my other story "Because They're Good Boobs" is based off, but it goes in a different direction. I have a couple more chapters planned for this one, I should finish by the end of February, but don't hold me to that.**

 **I just want to say, you guys have been fantastic with the reviews and the PM's and the encouragement on writing. It means a lot to me, and I hope that you've enjoyed this as much as I have.**

"But why more brothers?" Sofia asked, her face pressed tightly against the NICU window, held securely in her mommy's arms.

Callie couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. Spencer Oliver and Mateo Isaac Robbins-Torres came into the world screaming and healthy, both with ten fingers and ten toes, both with giant blue eyes, a bit lighter than their older brother's but darker than their biological mother's, both just under six pounds and both were absolutely perfect.

Meredith and April chose Mateo to be their godson, simply because Chief Miranda Bailey chose Spencer to be her godson and Addison to be her co-godparent. But April and Meredith had both gotten to hold Mateo, had both taken their picture with him, and even readily agreed to have their picture taken together, on all four phones. Bailey had refused pictures, but April and Meredith had both snuck one when the Chief wasn't looking, and forwarded them to Callie and Arizona, who had forwarded it to Addison.

Timmy seemed indifferent to the whole situation, but he had screamed exceptionally loudly and slapped both of Arizona's cheeks at the same time, which had awoken Mary from her brief nap, but she had said she honestly didn't mind. Callie had then made the executive decision that they should leave Mary's room then. Timmy had screamed again, with more slaps to his momma's face, so Arizona had agreed with her.

"Why couldn't I get sisters?" Sofia voiced another question. Callie was sure that Sofia wasn't angry or upset with her new brothers, but she had already asked about Zola and Ellis, and Callie was sure that it was a question borne more of curiosity than an actual wish for sisters.

But she decided that she should check anyway, just in case. "Are you upset with more brothers?" She asked softly, still holding her daughter up to look in on the twins.

"No, mommy, I love Spencer and Mateo," Callie smiled, giving Sofia a quick squeeze, "But I already have a brother, I have Timmy, why couldn't they be girls?"

Callie wasn't sure how deep she wanted to have this conversation with Sofia yet. The whole 'birds and bees' thing, because she was only ten, and she further didn't think that Sofia would be able to grasp the concept of genetics and chromosomes and sperm and eggs, so she had to try and come up with an answer that Sofia could understand and accept. But like she'd said, she loved her new brothers.

It was Arizona who answered their daughter though, Timmy finally asleep against her shoulder as their incomplete family of four looked in on Uncle Alex checking the boys for a fifth time. "We don't get to choose if they're boys or girls, Sofia."

"Why not momma?" Sofia had barely spared a glance at Arizona as she asked her question, she'd just continued staring at the new babies and Uncle Alex who was grinning back at her.

"That's the magic of having a baby, little bug. You choose to have a baby and then when it comes, it's a surprise." Arizona replied softly, bumping her shoulder against Callie's, and they smiled shyly at each other. Neither mentioning that making a choice to have a baby wasn't always the way they happened. Neither of them regretted Sofia's conception, she was an excellent surprise, and they had both made the choice to have her after she was a real thing.

"Okay." Was all Sofia replied with, Arizona's answer of 'magic' enough to satisfy her questions. Callie would have to remember that for later.

They lapsed into silence again, the four of them just watching the new babies. Callie felt the love deep in her chest, the way it had swollen and encompassed her entire being. Though the twins were early, Alex (and Arizona) had assured her that they were completely fine. Though like Timmy, they would have to spend a couple nights in the hospital because of how early they were. But for the first time, possibly in the history of their GSM friend and family group, the birth hadn't been traumatic or filled with drama. It had been a natural delivery, Mary had said she would forego the drugs if that's what they had wanted but they had said at the same time 'take the drugs.' There was no accident, no surgery, no danger - except the necessary precautions of twins who were small and came early.

Callie seriously hoped that this was a turning point for the children born to GSM surgeons.

"Hey, Squirt?" Alex said, sticking his head around the corner of the NICU.

"Hi Uncle Alex," Sofia said, squirming her way out of Callie's hold, going to stand near him.

"You remember what I said about big sister kisses?" He asked softly, looking down at her.

"The best medicine, right?" She bounced with excitement as she said it, her big brown eyes flitting between her mothers, her new brothers, and her uncle Alex.

"That's right, Squirt. Wanna come give them each a kiss?"

"Oh, can I mommy?" She bounced a bit more, so Callie nodded.

They both watched as Alex helped her put on the pink surgical gown, wash her hands, and then as Alex lifted her above the beds so she could softly kiss each of their cheeks, Callie slid her arm around her wife's shoulder and placed a kiss on her cheek, as well as kissing the top of Timmy's head.

"How did Barbara and The Colonel take the news?" Callie ask her wife with another gentle kiss to the temple. Arizona sighed and turned her forehead into her cheek, and Callie couldn't do much more than offer a similar sigh and wrap the smaller woman and their son tighter in her arm as they both watched Sofia and Alex talk softly between her two new brothers.

"Good. Daddy has something going on, to be honest momma would start to say and then they'd ask questions about the kids and I didn't get what was actually happening, so they should be here sometime next month." Arizona offered with a chuckle. "What about Carlos?"

"Oh he's already on his plane. But he's coming from Spain, so he'll be here in a couple days."

They stood together for a few more minutes, just watching their family a bit more.

"Do you want to stay tonight?" Callie asked softly.

Knowing that as with both Sofia and Timmy, Arizona would want to stay the first night with them in the hospital. Years ago, when Callie had thought that her then girlfriends reluctance to have kids was because of the time she spent in the NICU with her patients and that she hadn't wanted to have to face that with her own kids. In her assumption, which had been misguided, she had promised that their kids wouldn't face the same fate as a mother, and so far all four of their children had spent the first few nights of their life there. Two of them had to be born because of near fatal car accidents, and the twins because that's what usually happened with twins.

But she had been wrong then in her assumptions, and yet somehow oddly prophetic. But she wasn't wrong about Arizona wanting to stay the night. She was equally as prophetic about the way that her wife would answer the question. A slight nod of her head, mostly to herself and now to Timmy, the way that her blue eyes, eyes that all of her sons had inherited, would flit to her for the briefest of seconds, and then back to Spence and Mateo.

Arizona didn't have to answer before she replied, "I'll bring breakfast by tomorrow."

"Thank you Calliope."

With just a small kiss to her temple, Callie left Arizona and Timmy in the hallway and entered the NICU, she waved Alex over and they moved the most comfortable rocking chair between the two beds. With a soft kiss to rival that of 'big sister medicine' Callie and Sofia returned to Arizona who was whispering softly to Timmy.

Lifting sleeping Timmy from her arms, Callie watched as Arizona bent to give Sofia a hug and a kiss and whispered some soft words in their daughters ear. Without a word except goodnight and a kiss to her wife's lips, Callie left with Timmy snuggled safely in her arms, Sofia gripping her elbow.

888*

Five weeks later they were celebrating Arizona's birthday, naked, in their bed. Spencer and Mateo had come home, and were as easy as Timmy had been. None of the boys were big criers, just very loud. They didn't have long to come together this way though, because though they weren't big criers they were not yet sleeping through the night.

And with Arizona back at work with her two new fellows, and the pressures of a fifth grader, an almost one year old, and two not yet two month olds, the time for them to make this kind of love, rather than the quick and fast coupling in shared showers, was hard to come by. Neither of them had wanted to wait the same seven weeks they had after Timmy, so they had managed to have ten minutes together every now and then. They were the mothers of four children now, both with wildly successful careers, and time was hard to come by.

But tonight was most definitely their night.

She was not on call tonight, and though she had gone to work this morning and would go again tomorrow, she had managed to get the night off - free from pagers and cell phones. The only things she had to do tonight was eat the cake that Callie had baked and Sofia had decorated (pink with butterflies, that girl knew her so well), play with her four children, read Sofia two bedtime stories (because it was Arizona's birthday, Callie had allowed the extra fifteen minutes), and then make love _with_ her wife.

They were naked in their bed and she was straddling Callie's lap, and though they had already reached that peak together once tonight, there was a slow build to the second release. It wasn't about just coming right now, it wasn't about release, giving it or receiving it, it was about connecting over the time they had carved out for each other.

Tonight was about being with Calliope, it was about worshipping her, about communicating with physical touch and action the depth of how much she loved her. Arizona couldn't get ordinarily get enough of Calliope, sometimes just looking at her made butterflies erupt in her stomach, the way that one smile from her wife set her heart a flutter, the way that seeing her wife with one of their children filled her with so much love and devotion, the way that she was moving under her and around her and in her could send her to the highest of heights and the way that those arms, those strong arms would always be there to catch her.

And then her phone buzzed on the side table.

"Ignore it," she whispered into the kiss. The way that the words came out mumbled because Callie's tongue was in her mouth, softly stroking her own. The way that Callie's hands were running up and down her back, stroking and gripping and holding her close.

A minute later her pager rang out.

"I'm not on call, leave it," she whispered again, this time in Callie's ear. Moaning as one hand of her wife gripped her ass tightly, and one was palming her breast, her lips on that spot behind her right ear causing a shiver of desire to roll through her.

It was the ringing of Callie's phone that made both of them realize that something was happening that needed their attention.

With a groan of frustration from both of them, Arizona rolled off of her wife and they both checked their phones.

"It's Alex," Callie said from her side of the bed, he had called her phone too so Arizona quickly called him back.

After listening for a few seconds, she hung up the phone and reached for her prosthetic and spoke over her shoulder, "Jo's in labour. Alex asked me to come deliver."

There was a part of her, small so infinitesimally small, that didn't want to go in to deliver Alex and Jo's baby, but she pushed it down.

"Of course, go go go." Callie said, quickly mirroring her movements of putting on their discarded pyjamas. But Arizona had to stop and watch as a ratty grey t-shirt covered the beautiful expanse of caramel skin, the arousal coming back in a wave of overpowering proportions.

"Babe, you gotta go." Callie said again after a minute, a devious smirk on her face.

"Right. Yeah. Baby Arizona." She said, tearing her eyes away from her now fully clothed wife.

With glances at her sleeping children, Spencer and Mateo in similar superman poses, but Spence's was his left arm up and Mateo's right, Timmy had a death grip on the stuffed giraffe they had purchased five weeks ago, and Sofia's right foot was sticking stubbornly out from under her blanket, Arizona made her way to the front door with Callie trailing behind her grabbing her bag and jacket for her as she distractedly moved to leave their house.

"It's kind of crazy that he could be born on your birthday, eh?" Callie said excitedly, which stopped Arizona short and she twirled to stare at her wife. She hadn't thought of that.

When she didn't say anything, Callie leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her lips and Arizona felt herself sigh into the embrace. It was over far too quickly as the brunette was pushing her purse and jacket into her hands and slowly pushing her out the door. With a last wave, an 'I love you,' and a 'let me know how it goes,' Arizona was off in the car, leaving the SUV behind for Callie and the kids.

It took ten minutes to get to the hospital and another ten for her to grab scrubs and head to the room that Alex had texted her earlier, where she would change into scrubs because she wasn't sure how long this would take.

"Oh Robbins, thank god." Alex cried as she walked into the room on the OB floor. Both Alex and Jo looked stressed as the OB nurse filled her in. They had waited to call her in and Jo was about to deliver at any minute. Any hope of the baby not being born on her birthday flew out the window because she had about fifteen minutes to get ready.

Not caring that anyone was in the room she quickly tore off her pyjama top, an old University of Miami shirt of Callie's, and replaced it with her scrub top, doing the same with her Cars flannel pants, she just looked at Jo and Alex, as well as the nurse. Laughing softly to herself she threw all of her stuff in the chair by the door and went to wash her hands before she would gown and glove herself to help deliver the baby.

It was over within twenty minutes, and when Arizona Karev came into the world, his father crying as he cut the umbilical cord, his first newborn scream piercing the air as Arizona performed the newborn checks and tasks, his big brown eyes opened. When she was finished Arizona brought the baby back to Jo and Alex and placed him on his mother's chest, taking a step back she watched as Alex leaned in and kissed his wife and son, her own heart filling with joy for her friends, her smile widening as they both whispered 'Arizona' down at him.

While she still wasn't super enthusiastic about the fact that they named him that, or had wanted to in the first place, since Alex had explained why he chose to do so and she had agreed, (even though he'd said later that he would have done it anyway, even if she had said no, because it was a brother's job to annoy his sister), she couldn't help but fall in love with little Arizona. After she finished fixing Jo and cleaned herself up, she quickly grabbed her phone and snapped a picture of the small family, texting it to both Callie and Meredith.

Callie's response was quick _Now it's not just your birthday, and it's not just a day like any other. -C_

Arizona sighed and left the room, heading to the nurses station to fill out the paperwork and fill in Jo's chart, as well as 'Baby Karev' because that is what he officially was until she filled out the birth certificate.

 _I think I'm just going to stay tonight, unless you need me to come home and help with the kids. -A_

 _Stay Arizona, you have to be back for rounds in a few hours anyway. -C_

 _You'll bring them by when you bring breakfast? -A_

 _Of course, that's my godson. -C_

 _I love you Calliope Torres. -A_

 _I love you too. Find out what Alex and Jo want for breakfast too. -C_

Arizona smiled and returned to the room a couple hours later to check on the baby and her friends. Alex and Jo were both sleeping, their heads leaned towards each other on the small hospital pillow, their hands and fingers entwined and held tightly on Jo's chest. Baby Arizona was fussing softly in his bassinet, so she swiftly set her paperwork down and lifted the tiny tiny human into her arms. He fussed a bit more, but quickly settled against her chest, staring up at her with Alex's eyes.

"Hey buddy," she whispered to the infant his brown eyes unfocused but tracking her, "I'm your friend-"

But she was cut off by Alex whispering "Aunt."

"Huh?" She asked, his head was still snuggled against Jo's and his eyes were closed, but his voice was soft as he spoke again.

"If I'm Uncle Alex to your kids Robbins, you're Aunt Arizona to mine. You and Torres and Mer and everyone."

"Oh." She whispered back, neither of their words had woken Jo. But Baby Arizona was still staring up at her with his big brown eyes, his downy lips turned down in a frown, so she continued talking to him. "I'm your aunt. So that means you're gonna have to listen to me, especially because we have the same name. Arizona. It's a silly name," Alex gave a soft chuckle from the bed and she sent a glare towards him, but his eyes were still closed, so she turned back to the baby, whose eyes were drooping with tiredness, "But that's okay, because now there's two of us. Plus we have the same birthday. Sort of. I'm 45, and you're just a few hours old."

"I didn't know it was your birthday." But this time it was Jo who spoke. At the sound of her voice the baby began fussing again, so Arizona moved to deposit him in his mother's arms.

"It's just a day." She whispered to Jo, smiling down on her friends.

"I hope we didn't ruin your birthday." Alex said softly, his eyes glued to his son as he quickly began nursing at Jo's breast. Turning away from the private family moment, Arizona retrieved the two charts from where she'd left them, including the paperwork to file for their son's birth certificate.

"It's just a day," she said again. "Does he have a middle name?"

"Alexander." Jo whispered, her eyes moving from her son to her husband, a loving smile on her face as a tear slid from Alex's eye.

"Arizona Alexander Wilson-Karev?" She asked, quickly writing his first two names.

"No, just Karev." Jo whispered.

Arizona looked up in confusion, though it wasn't surprising. Meredith kids were all named Shepherd, and Sofia didn't share her last name either, but she had assumed.

Jo must have noticed the look though. "After we got married I changed my name to Karev."

"But everyone still calls you Wilson?"

"It's just easier that way. I never got to meet Lexie Grey, but Alex has told me all about Little Grey, and then the whole Boy Shepherd/Girl Shepherd thing." Arizona quickly glanced at the front of the chart and noticed that it did say Karev, shocked that she had missed that before.

"Do you want us to call you Dr. Karev?" Arizona asked softly.

"No, it's okay." Jo whispered, looking down at her son again. "Maybe when I publish, because I'll publish under Karev, or if I win a Catherine Fox. But it's like naming him Arizona, when someone chooses you to be their family, when you love someone enough to choose to be their family too, taking their name means something."

Arizona smiled again, quickly filling out the chart with the baby's name. "Callie wants to know what you guys want for breakfast, she'll be here in a couple hours."

"She doesn't have to do that," Jo whispered.

"Yeah, Torres doesn't have to cook for people." Alex said, his voice dripping with sarcasm which made Arizona chuckle.

"This is what Callie does. She feeds people." Arizona smiled, knowing that no matter what they said, Callie would come with enough food to feed the whole ward. If she were a betting woman, Arizona would put the entirety of her life savings on the fact that Callie was currently puttering around their kitchen filling serving trays with mounds of breakfast foods. "Plus she wants a chance to hold her godson. So she's coming bearing food and friends, whether you want her too or not."

888*

It was strange meeting someone else named Arizona, even if he was less than a day old. She'd known for almost four months that the sleeping baby she was now holding was going to be named after her wife, but the experience was still strange for Callie. Before she'd met Arizona, her wife, she'd never once met someone with the name, and though she'd never met anyone with the name Calliope either, outside of books, she hadn't anticipated meeting anyone else named Arizona.

The name was so solely Arizona Robbins that it was almost unfathomable. It was unique and different in a way that was her wife, she often wondered if it helped shaped Arizona into who she was, or if her parents had just lucked out with the name and had a daughter who matched. Both of the Robbins children were named for their grandfather, Timothy had his first name and Arizona was named for the battleship, and both of them had spent their whole lives carrying the weight of that sacrifice. And though she had never visited Arlington National Cemetery where her brother-in-law was buried, Callie knew that there were two almost identical gravestones there, "Timothy Daniel Robbins - Died In Service of His Country." The only difference the dates of birth and death.

When they had had an office, two identical tri-fold flags encased in solid glass had adorned an entire shelf, flanked by the service pictures of the two men. Callie realized with a start that she hadn't seen either the flags or the pictures since the divorce, almost six years ago. She'd have to ask Arizona about it.

But as Alex and Jo's room was filled with people eating the food she had brought in, she had only eyes for the baby in her arms. As she gazed down at him, she wondered if he would be as unique as her wife, with a name that meant something. Neither Alex or Arizona had explained why he was named as such, and all she'd been able to get out of her wife was that they had to be there for him because of it.

"Quit hogging the baby," Meredith whispered as she sat down beside her, "and give me my godson."

Callie quietly chuckled as they softly and carefully exchanged the sleeping baby.

"I almost can't believe they did it, actually named him Arizona." Meredith whispered as they both stared down at him.

"I know right?" Callie offered softly back.

"When April said she sometimes forgot that Arizona was the name of a state, I agreed. It took a second for me to remember that it was, whenever anyone says it I always think Arizona Robbins, now I guess I'll have to think Robbins and Karev. Or 'which one?'" Meredith chuckled as she said it.

"I know, I brought Sofia in early to meet him, and when I told her that was his name, all she did was look at me in confusion. Then on the drive to school I was explaining that he was named after momma, like her, she still didn't quite understand."

"At least you gave your kids normal names."

Callie laughed at that, they had indeed chosen normal names. Sofia was named after Arizona with her middle name, and Timmy carried the name of both his grandfathers and an uncle he would never meet, but Spencer and Mateo were named simply because they liked the names.

"Has Sofia ever asked why her brothers have different last names than her?" Meredith asked, turning to look at Callie for the first time.

"Not yet." Callie answered honestly, she and Arizona had discussed this before Timmy was born. Arizona had wanted him to just be a Torres for a variety of reasons, but him having a different name from Sofia was one of them. Sofia hadn't yet questioned it, even though she carried the name of all three of her parents, but Callie knew that as she got older she would wonder.

"Zola asked a few months ago, why they were Shepherd's and I was Grey. It's hard to explain about publishing and professionalism and all that stuff to a ten year old. Then we talked about Derek for a long time, and Aunt Amelia."

Callie nodded in understanding. She watched Bailey as he got older and older, and now that he was almost 8 he was starting to look more and more like Derek. His blonde hair was Meredith but his eyes and mannerisms were entirely Shepherd, Callie could even see Amelia in him. It was the same with Sofia. She had inherited her Cuban skin and hair and eyes, but physically she was a lot of Mark as well. As she got older she was losing a lot of his emotional mannerisms, except his laugh, but she was beginning to look like him as well.

"Do you see Derek when you look at Bailey and Ellis?" Callie asked softly.

"All the time. Sometimes when Sofia is over, I see Mark in the playroom with my kids. I see Derek and Mark in their smiles and their laughs." Meredith trailed off as baby Arizona began to wake and fuss a little. They both stood and returned him to Jo and Alex, before shooing everyone out of the room. Callie collected the now empty food containers and with a last hug to Alex she left them alone, and went in search of Arizona.

After she'd gotten back to the hospital after dropping Sofia off at school and returned to the room and breakfast party, she learned that Arizona had offered to cover Alex's service for the day so he could be with Jo and his son. Before Callie had returned, Arizona had been paged to the pit for a peds emergency, so Callie set off in search of her wife.

Checking the OR board, she saw that Arizona had been in surgery for almost three hours, so she headed up to the gallery. Technically she was still on mat leave for another week, and though the boys were in daycare, Arizona hadn't gotten to see them yet this morning. She'd seen Sofia for a brief few minutes when Callie had brought her in to see baby Arizona, but then they needed to rush off to school, so she wanted to see if Arizona would have a chance to see the boys before she brought them home.

Finding the gallery empty, Callie saw that the ER was in chaos and she knew that now wasn't a good time to bother her wife, her awesome surgeon wife who was currently commanding the chaos, coordinating it with precision and poise. After watching her wife coordinate the chaos in the ER for a moment, allowing herself to be filled with pride for her wife, she left the gallery and went to pick up all three of her sons from the daycare and head home, smiling the whole way.


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Sorry about the delay. I have no excuse.**

"What if it's another boy?" Callie whispered to her mother-in-law, the quiet coming from the living room soothing, the soft snores of her four children, her wife, and her father-in-law filtering through the sunny Sunday afternoon.

Barbara and Daniel were here for dual purposes, the first was for The Colonel's 75 birthday party - which he had adamantly requested he spend with his grandchildren, and the second was for the twins second birthday party, which again The Colonel requested he spend with his grandchildren. The six of them were all sleeping together, Spence and Mateo curled together and wrapped protectively on Daniel's chest, wild and curly blonde hair, matching dimples on all three faces as they slept. Mirrored on the other lounge chair was Arizona, Sofia, and Timmy. Timmy was snuggled into Sofia's chest, his equally wild blonde curls spread across Arizona's chest and face, her arms wrapped around both of her children.

While Callie and Barbara could watch from their place in the kitchen, the same soft smiles perched on both faces, as Barbara snuggled a sleeping Baby Arizona - who was not so much a baby anymore.

"'The Robbins genes are strong.'" Barbara whispered back, and Callie felt her gaze shift from her family in the living room, back to her mom.

"Hmm?" She questioned. Because she knew the Robbins genes were strong. Her house was filled with pictures of blonde haired, blue eyed, fair skinned boys. Timmy's startlingly dark blue eyes were almost navy in colour, but he had his biological mother's dimples - and as he grew older, the pictures of his uncle and namesake, Callie was sure that Timmy Robbins-Torres would be the same All-American boy that Timothy Robbins had been. The twins, Spencer and Mateo, were equally All-American, though their eyes were lighter than their older brothers, but the dimples were all Robbins.

Meredith and Alex had taken to calling all four Robbins "McDimples 1," 2, 3, and, 4.

Arizona hated it. Callie and Sofia secretly joined in.

"Daniel has two older brothers. Timothy Robbins, Daniel's father, has seven brothers. Matthew Robbins, Daniel's grandfather has seven brothers. John Robbins, Daniel's great-grandfather, has eleven brothers. That's four generations of Robbins men who have had only brothers. All of them only had sons as well. Do you see where I'm going with this?" Barbara asked on a whisper.

Barbara had dark brown hair, it was greying now, gracefully, but Callie could still see hints of the not blonde hair. Her eyes too were blue, but they were different than the Robbins eyes. Arizona had her father's eyes, as did all of her sons.

"When I was pregnant with Arizona, it was something that Momma Robbins said to me when I was insistent that she was a girl. 'The Robbins genes are strong. There hasn't been a female Robbins in over a hundred years. You're having a boy.' I had so wanted a little girl." Callie nodded, their surrogate was now eight and a half months pregnant (and everything was going smoothly) and she was desperately hoping for a little girl. So much so, in fact, that she had almost broken on several occasions and asked what they were having. But she had stayed strong.

And she would be happy with another son, though 12 year old Sofia may not agree, Callie wanted a baby girl.

"When we told the family that we had a girl, everyone was shocked. She was still a Robbins, those eyes and that hair, but she was a girl! It was almost scandalous." She laughed, and Callie couldn't help but join in. "We had picked the name Arizona already, assuming we were having a boy - which is why her middle name is Daniel, and then came this bouncing baby girl. Daniel was so much gentler with her than I had ever seen him. Tim was already three when she came, and he was also shocked, his cousins were all boys. He didn't know what to do either."

"But all those Robbins men, in their uniforms, with dirt on their hands and their faces, when they came to see her… she softened them. Which ended up being a mistake, because she was as rough and tumble as any of the boys, the only difference is that she had pigtails and sometimes wore a dress."

They lapsed into silence then, the quiet snores and breathing from the living room reaching them again, the soft mumbles from Arizona in Barbara's lap filling the kitchen.

"We had names for all of them, girls names. But I've been scared to even say it out loud this time." Because what if saying it out loud would jinx it? Callie knew that that was ridiculous, the sex of the baby was determined when they had Arizona's eggs fertilized years ago, nothing could change that now. But to Callie, superstitions would superstitious.

"What were they?"

"For Timmy, it wasn't even a question of what his name would be if he were a boy. Tim was important to Arizona, and to you guys, and I wanted to honour that." Callie looked to the mantle in the living room. There were three Catherine Fox Awards there now, two for her and one for Arizona, still surrounded by the artwork from Carl Shatler, but now the mantle was bookended by matching tri-fold flags and framed photos for the men that they honoured.

Arizona hadn't wanted to put the flags up again initially. She had told Callie that it wasn't necessary for them to create a shrine to her family's history. But when Callie had grimaced at the negative connotation of the way her wife had said 'shrine' she had explained that it wasn't a shrine, it was honouring where Timmy had gotten his name from, her son, their son, and it was Callie's family too, so shouldn't she get a say? Arizona's shoulder's had softened, so Callie and Sofia had put the flags and pictures up, while Callie told their daughter the story of her great-grandfather and her uncle. Two men she would never get the chance to meet, but her little chest had puffed with pride, and she handled the memorabilia with a gentleness that she usually reserved for her brothers.

"Arizona had suggested Carlos as his middle name, and it just fit. If it had been a girl, we would have named her Olivia June. The twins were going to be Abigail Calliope," Callie grimaced when she said her own name again, but Barbara just offered a small chuckle, "and Zoey Barbara."

"Barbara? For me?"

"Of course, mom." Callie replied softly, grasping the hand that her mother-in-law offered. The four years since she and Arizona had married, Callie Barbara 'mom' had become first nature. Her own mother still hadn't spoken to her since their first wedding, and Callie had long since let go of that hurt. Barbara Robbins was her mom now, often she spoke more with Barbara than Arizona did. "Daniel and my dad have a grandchild named after them, you deserve the same."

"Darn those Robbins genes." They both laughed at that, lapsing into silence once again.

Arizona stirred in Barbara's arms, hiccuping into her shoulder before settling back into sleep once again. "I still can't believe your friends named him Arizona. When I spoke to Jo about it, she seemed hesitant, almost nervous."

"We all think that, Arizona most of all. Did she tell you that they have the same birthday?"

"No. I'm still not even allowed to mention her birthday."

"Well, come back this year, because now that there's two Arizona's who have the same birthday, she's not allowed to hide anymore. Alex and Jo make sure that Aunt Arizona's birthday is celebrated. She hates it, but she does it for him."

They lapsed into silence again, the other seven occupants of the house enjoying their afternoon nap. Callie knew that soon she'd had to wake them all, or the children would never sleep tonight. Especially the boys, and she'd end up with a bed full of children, but for now she could let them sleep.

"Have you thought of girls names?"

"Not a first name, but we decided to stick with Barbara for her middle name. We have a boys name though, Zachary Cooper." Though Callie felt bad about her tiny white lie. She had thought of a girls name. Liliana. It had been her grandmother's name. Her grandmother who had instilled in her a love of Cuban food, who had insisted she speak Spanish as a child, but indulged her with English - even though Liliana could hardly understand when her grandchildren spoke English. Liliana Barbara Robbins-Torres. Lily.

"She's due soon, right?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, a couple weeks."

Arizona was home alone with the twins. Callie was at work tonight, with the Krackens, and usually she would have gone to the game with all the kids, but the boys were feeling slightly under the weather. Not enough to not be their recently earned terrible two selves, but enough that four hours at a cold hockey arena would not be a good idea. Sofia and Timmy went with Aunt Teddy instead, and her newly acquired husband James. But the game was on in the living room, all three of them hoping for a glance of mami as she stood behind the bench.

Callie, her beautiful and sun loving wife, had taken to hockey in a way that Arizona couldn't believe. As an orthopedic surgeon she had loved hockey season for the injuries that offered her surgical skills a chance to shine, but it had been a passive interested that peaked between the months of September and June. Now it was a full fledged passion. Especially since the Kracken had done the nearly impossible and won the Stanley Cup in their first season, and Callie had been presented with a ring along with the rest of the team. The thing was hideous, to Arizona, but Callie was exceptionally proud of it.

It was as equally hideous as the Seahawks Superbowl ring, that sat side by side in their office. Which one one wall held medical textbooks and overflowing piles of research, and on the other, the sports memorabilia. Every guy that came into their house somehow gravitated towards this room. With it's framed autographed jerseys, and footballs, and sticks, and baseballs, and bats. A signed puck, or twelve, and on display centre stage the two gaudy and hideous rings. As if they were pulled by some magnetic force and their Y-Chromosome to all things sports.

But Arizona was proud of her wife. Despite the fact that the wall made her frown, it also filled her with as much pride and inspiration as the loner piece of artwork had years ago. Callie was a popular doctor for all three major sports teams in the Seattle area, and this wall was just more proof of Callie's excellence.

The three of them sat quietly in the living room watching the game, Seattle was down 2-1 in the third period, when the doorbell rang. The twins were up off the couch quicker than lightning and Arizona had to shout to remind them to slow down.

Opening the door, Arizona was shocked to find six people on her doorstep. Carlos, who's grin matched the boys as they shouted "Lo" their inability to say "Abuelo" shortened to 'Lo' and Lucia Torres who was offering her a small smile. The other four people Arizona didn't know, one was obviously Aria, who looked shockingly like a perfect mix of Lucia and Callie, and a man she didn't know who had his arm wrapped around an obviously younger woman, while a nervous looking man stood behind them.

"Carlos?" She asked, noticing that his attention was on the boys who were jabbering away at him in Spanglish.

"Are these my grandchildren? I mean… are these Calliope's children? Your children?" The way that Lucia asked the question, Arizona could tell that her mother-in-law, whom she had only met once, seemed nervous. Arizona had wanted to say no, they were not her grandchildren, that to have the privilege to call them that she would have to be present in their lives, but Spencer was tugging on her skirt, his chubby face and arms lifted to the strange woman in request to be picked up. Lucia looked shyly at her, her face contorted with shame and regret, but a small questioning smile.

Despite the war raging within her, she nodded, and watched as Callie's absent mother bent to pick up her son, a tear falling which was quickly kissed away by an excited Spencer.

"Come in, please." She asked, stepping to the side, her unexpected visitors filing into her house and following her into the kitchen.

To say Arizona was feeling awkward would have been the understatement of the year. While Carlos had offered her a brief hug, they other five were practically strangers to her. Though Spence and Mateo were having the time of their lives with their Abuelo and five new people.

"Carlos, what's going on?" She asked finally, settling glasses of water in front of everyone. She didn't know why she was nervous, this was, technically, her family.

"Where is Calliope? Sofia and Timmy?" Carlos asked, his focus still on Mateo who was giggling as he tried to get a grip on his abuelo's glasses, his favourite past time.

"She's at work, Sof and Tim are with friends. The boys weren't feeling very well so we decided to stay home. Does Callie know you're here?"

Arizona watched as Carlos shook his head and looked at Aria, nodding that she should say something. Turning her focus to her sister-in-law, who she's never met, Arizona offered a small smile.

"Arizona… I know, I know we've never met, and that's my fault. I am sorry." Shocked, but hiding it quickly, Arizona could only nod, hoping that someone could explain further.

"This is my husband Hector, and my step-daughter Megan and her husband Aaron. We need your help."

"Is that why you're here, because you need help?" She was a bit enraged, but was able to contain her emotions. These people, save for Carlos, had ignored her, and her existence as well as Callie's and her children, for the last decade and now they had the audacity to come asking for help.

"Yes and no." From Megan.

Arizona immediately softened when she looked at who she now knew to be her niece. The way she cradled her protruding stomach, the fear written on her face, Arizona knew the look well. It was the way all pregnant woman looked at her when they came to see Dr. Robbins.

"Carlos?" She asked, turning to look at the man, who at least had the grace to look slightly ashamed.

"There is something wrong with Megan's baby. Everyone suggested a fetal surgeon and everyone suggested Arizona Robbins." Aria said, answering Arizona's questions. "Daddy said you'd help us."

Of course she'd help them.

"If this hadn't happened, would any of you have shown up here?"

The other six adults in the room looked at each other awkwardly, all of them casting fleeting glances at her as she waited for an answer. Luckily the boys hadn't noticed the tension in the room, and were focused on Carlos and Lucia.

It was Lucia and Aria who spoke first "I'm sorry."

It wasn't good enough for Arizona, but it was a start as Aria gestured towards Lucia to continue. "I am so sorry Arizona… I do not deserve your forgiveness, but when they said that Megan could lose the baby, it reminded me that I had already lost a daughter. Two daughters, you and Calliope. Carlos has pictures of you and your family in his office, and I'd see my, his, his grandchildren and I knew I made a mistake. And every day I continued to make it. To abandon your family and my daughter." When Lucia couldn't continue because she had begun to cry, Spencer stilled in her arms and like he did with every adult who'd ever held him, placed his hands clumsily on her cheeks and offered her a kiss, which just made his Abuela cry even more.

"I'm sorry too Arizona. I am ashamed of my actions. I would like to think that I would have found the strength and courage to apologize to you and Cal, and your kids, before something like this happened, but I didn't. I know that forgiveness will be hard, and maybe we don't deserve it, and I will accept that. But please, my grandchild needs you."

"Please Dr. Robbins." Arizona's anger deflated when Megan looked at her, tears filling her eyes and running down her cheeks as she and her husband looked at her.

"You can call me Arizona."

They were suddenly interrupted by the front door opening, Sofia and Timmy running into the kitchen followed by Callie who stopped suddenly in the doorway, almost stumbling. Sofia and Timmy had ran to Carlos' side, and as he passed a happy Mateo to Aria so he could bend to greet the older children, Arizona stood quickly and walked to Callie's side.

As she slipped her hand into her wifes, strong fingers gripped hers tightly, Arizona could see the struggle on her wifes face, the grief written in her eyes as she stood staring at the family that had abandoned her, her long lost sister and mother holding her children.

Reaching up with her free hand, she placed her palm on her wifes cheek and was pleased when Callie leaned into her touch, and using slight pressure to turn her face towards her own, resting their foreheads together. "Your niece," and Arizona paused when Callie sucked in a breath, "yes, your niece's baby is in trouble. They were referred to me."

"What's wrong?" Callie whispered, the voices of Sofia and her grandparents and family filling the kitchen.

"I don't know yet."

"You'll help?"

"If I can, yes." Of course that's all Callie would think of. Arizona could tell her wife was in panic mode, the family she had been abandoned were in her kitchen, interacting with her children, and asking them for help, but they needed her, well they needed Arizona, but to Arizona that was them. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. No. Maybe?" Callie whispered back.

"We can ask them to leave. They don't have to stay here."

"Hmm." Callie took another shuddering breath, and then steeled herself. Arizona allowed herself to be pulled along further into the kitchen, Timmy now happily in Carlos' lap, Spencer still in Lucia's and Mateo happily leaning from Aria's arms towards Hector who was making funny faces at him. Arizona could tell that Callie's smile, though small, was genuine as she took in the scene in front of her.

"Sofia, please take your brothers up for their bath and then get in the shower and ready for bed." Callie said to their daughter, ten pairs of eyes turning to focus on her.

A pout formed on their daughters lips as she said "But Abuelo is here."

"Maybe Abuelo will help with bath time, if you ask politely." Arizona answered.

"Will you Abuelo?" Sofia asked, joined by the three boys shouting 'Lo' and the other adults laughing. Carlos nodded at her query and she beamed her own dimpled smile at him, as she called to her brothers " _Vamanos hermanitos!"_ and all three squirmed from their respective laps as they raced towards the children's bathroom, followed closely by Carlos.

An awkward silence filled the kitchen as Arizona and Callie took seats at the table. Her hand still gripped her wifes, but Arizona knew that she would have to be the strong one in this moment. "So, Megan, what's wrong exactly?"

But it was Hector who answered, pulling a folder from the messenger bag he carried. "Here's all of her scans and her OB's notes."

Arizona had left to go to the hospital with Megan and her husband, along with Aria and her husband, leaving Callie alone in her living room with her mother. Her mother she hadn't seen or spoken to in 12 years. Her mother who had abandoned her. Her mother who had flat out refused to even speak to her for 12 years. Her father had left after story time to go to the hospital to check on the family, and now she and her mother were sitting here, in her living room, in silence. Awkward silence.

Though Lucia never once looked at her, Callie knew that the older woman had cast glances around the room. After the twins first birthday, when she and Arizona had decided that it was time to make use of their last fertilized egg, they had broken ground on this house. It was farther from the hospital than either of them would have liked, but they made sure that they stayed in the same school district as Meredith so Sofia and Zola could continue their education. The two girls were consistently top two in their class, trading the top spot every so often.

Callie pulled her eyes from her mother and looked in the direction of the mantle where her mother was looking.

"Why now?" She asked, but her mother had spoken at the same time, "Who are those men?"

Their eyes finally connected on purpose, and Callie didn't want to analyse why her heart started racing or why her palms felt sweaty, or why she suddenly felt like a schoolgirl about to be scolded for being sent to the principal's office.

"They are both Timothy Robbins. The one on the left is Arizona's grandfather, and the one on the right is her brother." Her own son, Timothy Robbins-Torres, was going to look exactly like the men he was named after.

"Your son," Lucia started, a wave of comfort at her mothers choice of words filling her, washing away the past decade of hurt, "is he named after them?"

"Well her brother, mostly. But he was named after his grandfather, so in a way, yes."

"He's a beautiful boy Calliope. The twins as well, and Sofia. You have a beautiful family, mija."

Finally. This is what she had been waiting for for the last 14 years of her life, acknowledgement from her mother that this was her family. Perhaps not the way that she had imagined it would come about when they had daydreamed together as a child, her mother and her, and suddenly her question from earlier, the _why now,_ didn't matter.

Well, it still mattered, and it always would matter, those fourteen years, but Lucia was here now, she wasn't running and she wasn't yelling at her about how she was a sinner. Callie wasn't ready to trust her mother yet, not in her own life and certainly not in her children's, but Lucia had made the first step and Callie could take one as well.

"We're pregnant again. Well our surrogate is."

The light that shone in her mother's eyes was almost blinding and Callie knew that she had made the right choice.

"I was a coward Calliope. I made a mistake, I've been making the same mistake for the last fourteen years, and I missed out on your family. I turned Aria against you, so you didn't get to know your sister's family, watch them fall in love, watch them get married… and I stole those things from her as well."

"Mom," Callie whispered, she heard the tears in her own voice.

"I know that I do not deserve your forgiveness, or Arizona's, maybe especially hers, but I hope that one, I can be Abuela to your children."

Callie wanted to say yes. To throw herself into her mother's arms and never let go. But she couldn't.

"I let you go mother. After all of it… I let you go because you weren't there for me. Or for Arizona. Or Sofia. Or Timmy. Or Spencer and Mateo. You weren't here for us. If it were just me, I'd be willing to try again, to let you try again. But I have a family now. Kids whose hearts will break if you abandon them. Just because you are my mother it doesn't give you any right to call them your grandchildren, that is a privilege that must be earned. And my wife, well… you saw what she was like."

Because honestly Callie had been shocked to walk into the kitchen to find her mother holding Mateo. She wasn't sure how that had happened, or why Arizona had allowed it. But Arizona had always been the more forgiving of the two of them, so though she was shocked she wasn't at all surprised that Arizona had allowed them in.

"The first doctor who told us to see Arizona, that was when I knew I had to face you. Not because I needed Arizona, not because we were told that she would be the only one who could save the baby, but it was the way everyone spoke of her." Callie could only stare as her mother talked, "She is regarded so highly in the medical community, Carlos has nothing but positive things to say about her, and it made me realize… I was wrong. I'm so sorry Calliope."

"You have to tell her that." Callie whispered, reaching behind her to grab tissues for both her and her mother.

"I did."

Just then the door behind them opened and Carlos and Arizona walked in, both looking tired and dishevelled. It was late, almost one in the morning, but Callie could tell that her wife was determined. She had her doctor face on, her thinking doctor face, and that gave Callie hope. It was a niece she didn't know she had, but Callie had been worried. Needlessly, she knew, her wife was the foremost fetal surgeon in the country, probably the world, and if anyone could save her niece, she knew it was Arizona.

"So?" Lucia asked, standing from the couch to meet the two newcomers.

Callie had followed quickly, giving Arizona a quick kiss, but also noticing how both of her parents smiled at them. Genuine smiles.

"I scheduled surgery for tomorrow afternoon. Megan and the baby will be okay until then, but I admitted them and Aaron is going to stay with her tonight. Alex is on call, and will page me if anything changes."

"Aria and Hector?" Lucia asked, looking at Carlos.

"They are at the hotel, and we will be back here for breakfast at 9?" Carlos directed his question to Arizona.

Her wifes blue eyes sought hers in question, asking if that was all right, and it would be so she just nodded. "Nine it is then."

After they had shared their goodbyes, and Lucia had hugged Arizona, Callie had led them to their bedroom after they both checked on their kids. For now, Spencer and Mateo still shared a room, but they had a room of equal size just across the hall, serving as storage now, for when they'd want their privacy, and Timmy and Sofia each had their own room further down the hall. When they'd built the house, they ensured that they had seven bedrooms; theirs, one for each of the kids, and a guest room, though they'd overshot in case this last pregnancy was twins again, they'd now have two guest rooms.

Once they were in their bed, entwined with one another, their silence comfortable and warm, Arizona's hand found its way underneath her shirt, fingers pressed tightly against her lower back.

"Are you okay Calliope?"

"She wants to be abuela."

"Technically she is an abuela. Not just to our kids, but to Megan."

"Ughh, why do you have to be so reasonable?"

Arizona just laughed and leaned up to press a kiss to her lips. Callie was sure that no matter what was wrong in the world, even if it was Arizona that was making her testy, a kiss from her wife would always have the power to make her feel better.

"You can say no, you don't have to let her back into your life."

Callie could only sigh. "I know. But…"

"There is no but Calliope, none. Our kids have never met her before, or Aria or any of them. She abandoned you."

"They abandoned all of us."

"Well, okay, that's technically true, but my heartache about that is only for you. You're the one that was hurt by that, you're the one that suffered. We all hurt for you, and I'll support your decision."

"If I asked you not to help Megan, would you?" Callie would never ask.

"Now you're just being stupid." And Callie laughed and squirmed as Arizona tickled her sides.

"Hey!" She tickled back, eliciting laughs and squeals from her wife.

"First of all, I would help her no matter what you asked of me. But more importantly, you wouldn't ask that. Not because she's your family, and not because you're vindictive and petty like that, but because you wouldn't ask me that. It's not who you are Calliope Torres. You are a helper at heart, it's your very essence and the basis for all the good that is in you. You have helped artists and professionals and old people, but you've also helped fix murderers and scum and homeless people. You give the smelly old man outside Starbucks five dollars every time you see him, which I might remind you is every day. That was a stupid question you just asked me. There is nothing but good in you, my wife, my beautiful and kind and caring and compassionate wife, and your heart is so big and you love so much and you care so fiercely and I love that about you."

Callie felt her heart swell during Arizona's speech. Had felt the way the impossibly blue eyes of her wife caressed her face, the way that pale hands stilled on her flesh, and the way that she fell a little more in love with her.

"Why did I do to deserve you?" She asked, bending her head to place a soft kiss against Arizona's lips.

"I ask myself that every day." Arizona said with a small smirk.

"You were still a hot mess when you met me."

"Well at least I'm still hot."


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: Next** **instalment** **.**

Arizona was 112 minutes into the surgery on Megan when Chief Miranda Bailey strolled into the OR holding a surgical mask over her face. Though 'strolled' was a bit too light of a word. More like stomped. Or barged. Or maybe surged. Whatever word Arizona would choose to described the way that Chief Bailey came in would not express the wave of authority issues that rolled through her.

"Hello Dr. Robbins. How are you today?" The congenial tone unnerved her.

"Hello Dr. Bailey, I am well, thank you. How are you?" She asked, her focus still on the surgery in front of her. It was a complicated surgery and she knew why she had been recommended for it, having only seen it once before in the almost ten years she had been doing this. In fact it was the first surgery she had done solo without Nicole by her side.

But she was confident she would succeed.

"Oh, I'm just fine Dr. Robbins." Bailey said, her fake congenial tone still present. But Arizona could tell that all of the scrub nurses were just as unnerved as she was. "Just fine."

"I'm glad to hear it Dr. Bailey."

"I have a question for you Dr. Robbins, a hypothetical question."

"Okay." But it was not okay.

"Let's say I have a surgeon on my staff. Excellent surgeon. Good with her patients, well loved by her colleagues, spoken of very highly by nurses and hospital staff. Heck, maybe even she won an award or two, brings millions of dollars into this hospital, her name alone brings prestige and fame. In short she's amazing."

This was really not okay. "Sounds like a real keeper." Sounded a lot like herself.

"Oh, I didn't even get to the best part Dr. Robbins."

"I apologize."

"That's all right Dr. Robbins. Now this surgeon, this excellent surgeon, normally very excellent, is rumoured to be operating on her niece. Which is a huge ethical violation, punishable by a two week suspension. What would you do in my situation Dr. Robbins?"

Run away, is what she wanted to say.

"I would say it depends on the circumstances Dr. Bailey."

"Hmm, care to enlighten me about these hypothetical circumstances?"

Run away was looking like a much better answer.

"Can we drop the ruse now Dr. Bailey?" With only a nod and hum in response Arizona manipulated her tools in her effort to save Megan's baby. "This is a rare complication and I haven't personally seen one in over seven years. Dr. Montgomery has never performed this procedure, and neither have Dr. Hendricks or Dr. Giles. I am the best fetal surgeon to tackle this surgery, especially due to the serious nature and speed with which is should be addressed to ensure the highest probability of safety for both mother and child. Yes, this woman is technically my niece, and this baby girl is also related to me, and I am breaking hospital protocol not once, but twice, but this is about saving a mother and child, and that is never something that should be overlooked because of familial relationships."

Exhaling a deep breath, Arizona felt herself calm. She was almost half done the surgery, and so far it was going as well as she could hope for. Both Megan and the baby were doing very well, and she was confident in her abilities.

"Then you may proceed Dr. Robbins."

"How did you know?" Callie was at home with the children, waiting on the call from their surrogate.

"Your surrogate just came in in labour, and I knew you were in surgery so as I was about to find Nugent to take over for you, I ran into Mr. Torres in the waiting room. He said you were operating on his granddaughter just as Torres rushed in with Sofia and the boys. I did the math."

"Katie's having our baby?"

"Pretty soon Robbins."

Her mouth suddenly dry, Arizona swallowed thickly, tamping down her urge to run to OB and to Callie and their kids. She could miss the birth of her child if it meant saving Megan and her baby. And it did.

"Will you please tell Callie I'll be another couple of hours?"

"Of course Robbins. We'll discuss your punishment later. Maybe four weeks suspension. With pay, of course, you got a baby to take care of after all."

888*

Three hours later Arizona finished the surgery on Megan, both mom and baby would be just fine, and as she rushed to the waiting room to inform Aaron and the rest of the family, she was stopped in her tracks to see her own parents in the waiting room, chatting quietly with Callie's parents. Sofia was reading a book snuggled against The Colonel, and the three boys were being held by the other three grandparents. The twins were asleep with Carlos and Barbara, but Timmy was playing with Lucia's hair as she made silly faces at him.

Aria and Hector were the first to see her approach, both of them standing to greet her followed quickly by Aaron. Their parents stayed seated but all of them looked at her. Callie was noticeably absent from the room, but she couldn't focus on that right now. Or the fact that their fifth child was being born right now. Or maybe was already born.

"How is she?" Aaron asked, the comforting hands of Hector and Aria on his shoulders.

"Megan and the baby did wonderfully. Mom and baby are both in excellent health." Suddenly she was hugged by all three.

"Can I see her?" Aaron asked in her ear, and hugged her a bit tighter.

"She's still asleep, and due to the nature of the surgery, she'll be sedated for a bit longer than normal, to help the baby be still. I can take you to her, if you want."

"No," Aria started, the three of them pulling away from her. "Dr. Bailey said she'd come take us in a few minutes, Callie is waiting for you at the nursery."

The breath stolen from her lungs she noticed that the gathered adults smiled at her, and Sofia and Timmy barely spared a glance at her, so engrossed they were with their books and abuela's hair. Catching sight of Bailey over their shoulders, she turned and ran for the elevator.

She found Callie standing outside of the nursery, a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. But fifteen years with this woman, Arizona knew that they were tears of happiness and joy.

"Callie?" She asked, slipping under the arm her wife outstretched and held open to her, sighing when she was wrapped closely to the taller woman's side, a strong arm holding her tightly.

"We're just waiting for him to come up." Callie whispered.

"Him? Another boy?" Arizona asked. Leaning her head against Callie's shoulder. Though her wife had never said it, Arizona knew that Callie had secretly been hoping for a girl. She knew that it was the reason they hadn't spoken of girls names this time. Knew that the reason they had only chosen boys names (thankfully Callie took the reigns this time because as soon as they had chosen Spencer and Mateo she's burned that stupid book and all the lists. It had been very cathartic) was because Callie didn't want to get her hopes up. She also knew that Sofia wanted a sister. Though at 12 she'd be a little old to have a super close relationship with a sister, she would prefer to have another girl in the house.

Her antics with hair ties had resulted in Timmy's first haircut, but a sister would possibly be more willing.

But she also knew that all of them would be happy either way. Arizona was sure that it was a boy, something about Robbins genes and first girl and all that weird superstitious stuff that had been said to her for years. She had been surrounded by boys for years. Sure there were aunts and grandmas and all of that, but all of her cousins were boys.

"The baby was born, but I waited for you to meet him."

"You keep saying 'him' Calliope." She trusted that Callie had waited, hadn't expected her to have done that, but knew that her wife would have waited for her.

"The Robbins genes are strong." Was all that Callie said.

"You've been talking to my mother again, haven't you?" Arizona asked, leaning up slightly to press a kiss to a tanned jaw, clasping the hand between hers tightly.

Just as Callie was about to respond, one of the nursery nurses waved to them, indicating that they should come in.

"It's our baby, Calliope."

And even though she's done this three times now, and even though she was ridiculously old now to be having a newborn, she was almost 47, the wave of excitement that Arizona felt glow through her warmed her heart. She knew that their family, their whole family with an aunt and uncle and cousins and two full sets of grandparents were waiting for them, as well as their four children - and the hospital was filled with their work family. They were literally surrounded by love and support, but leaning on Callie as they walked into the nursery was the safest place in the world.

"Dr. Torres, Dr. Robbins, this is your daughter." The nurse whispered, and Arizona felt more than heard the gasp that Callie released. Felt the way that she stuttered and faltered in her steps, caught her and held her wife up as they walked towards the bed.

"Oh no." Was the first words that Callie uttered. "I wanted a girl, I did, and I love her, I love her our little Liliana-" Arizona had tried to interrupt then, to ask about the name, but Callie just kept on talking, more to herself than to her or their daughter, "I didn't think it through though. Those damn Robbins genes. The boys all look like you. Like exactly like you, and now she's gonna look exactly like you. How am I supposed to say no to anything? She's gonna look exactly like you. Sofia has a crush on a boy, did you know that? She's gonna date soon and then soon Liliana is gonna wanna date and if she looks anything like you, it's not gonna be hard. It's gonna be impossible because…. because…"

Somewhere around there Callie slipped into Spanish, and while she could keep up, Arizona could think of only one thing to shut her up. Though her rant wasn't loud or disruptive, she was flying into full panic mode now.

Carefully lifting their girl, the sweet baby girl, who was apparently named Liliana, and gently placed her in Callie's arms. It worked, the same way it calmed April, Alex, and Meredith three years ago when they placed Timmy in their arms, Callie quieted and held the baby tightly, her eyes focused only on their daughter.

Arizona had sideled closing up to them, her arms wrapped around Callie as they welcomed the baby girl to their family.

Eventually the silence that had surrounded them was interrupted by a nurse carrying the babies chart, "Have you picked a name?"

Pen poised over the chart, Callie had finally turned to look at her. "You said Liliana earlier, right?" Arizona whispered. Callie just nodded, her focus shifting back to their daughter.

"Liliana Barbara Robbins-Torres." Arizona said to the nurse, who wrote the chosen name in the chart and left the two of them in the nurses. They stood together in silence, just enjoying each others company and spending the time with their new daughter, their Liliana. The only noise in the nurses were the quiet whimpers and noises from all the new babies. This place had always been a refuge for them, when they were stressed or tired, spending time with each other or even separately in the nursery had a calming effect on them both. But now that they were here together, with their own brand new baby, made it infinitely better.

"We should go see the family."

888*

Callie was in love. Desperately. Her bed was filled with her five children, and she didn't know how she was staying together because she felt like she was going to burst with it. Liliana was in her arms, and though she was sleeping, Callie couldn't help but see her eyes. Where all the boys had the Robbins eyes, all three had shades of blue that bordered on navy. Timmy's were the darkest of them, and Spence and Mateo had lighter blue eyes but they were exactly the same. Sofia had her eyes, or so Arizona liked to say, Callie didn't see it. She thought her oldest child had lighter eyes, the strong Torres genes softened by Mark.

But Liliana… _oh no, she was in serious trouble._

It was Sofia that said it first. "Lily's eyes are exactly like momma's."

Then Daniel had taken a good long look at her, which Barbara had laughed that it's exactly what he'd done when he was told that Arizona was a girl, which also made the twins laugh, then he'd muttered "holy guacamole" and just shook his head. When Barbara had seen Lily's eyes, she hugged Sofia tighter and told her oldest grandchild that she was right, baby Lily had her momma's eyes.

Carlos and Lucia, who both cried a lot more than anyone else had, just looked at the new baby and continued to hold the twins. Neither of who seemed to care all that much about their new sister.

When she'd brought Liliana to see Aria and Hector who were in Megan's room with Aaron, they were both exceedingly happy for them. Megan hadn't woken up yet, but Callie had promised Aaron that she'd bring the new baby by tomorrow when she was awake and alert, so that they could meet their new cousin.

For Callie's money, the best reaction to the new baby was Timmy's. When he was told she was a girl, he whispered - directly into Sofia's ear (as she was his favourite person) that girls were icky, then looked slightly scandalized when Sofia informed him that she was a girl. He'd abruptly changed his mind about girls, and whispered " _si, hermanita"_ when Sofia instructed him to kiss Lily softly and gently.

But now the six of them were in her and Arizona's bed, all five children asleep, and Callie feeling so much in love with her entire family that she was sure that at some point she might actually burst. The moment could only have been more perfect if Arizona were here, but the life of a surgeon is what it is and Arizona had been pulled into emergency after emergency before she even had the chance to introduce her daughter to their family. In fact, Callie hadn't even seen her wife since Bailey had pulled her away from them in the nursery hours ago.

Arizona had sent a text, apologizing with a promise to explain when she got home _whenever that would be_.

Suddenly, as if she had nodded off, Callie felt the bed shift as Arizona sat beside her and just gazed lovingly down at Liliana in her arms. Panicked slightly about the other four children, it was almost as if Arizona had read her mind because she softly whispered "Sofia woke up when I can in, she and Timmy are in her room, and I made two trips to carry the twins to their room. Also Arizona is in Timmy's bed."

"Okay." Callie whispered, shifting on the bed. "Is everything okay-"

And before she could finish her question, Lily had started to fuss, the long and sleepless nights of an infant beginning. Callie shifted the baby into Arizona's arms - realizing that Arizona hadn't yet had a chance to hold her own daughter yet, while she went to the kitchen to make a bottle for the baby.

When she got back to the room, it was to find both Lily and Arizona crying. Suddenly distraught, these were not Arizona's usual 'new baby tears,' but something else. Something filled with sadness and regret. Placing the bottle in Arizona's hand, which moved quickly to placate the crying baby, Callie removed Arizona's prosthetic, and then climbed behind her wife and held the now silently sobbing woman in her arms.

"What's wrong? Talk to me sweetheart." She whispered in Arizona's ear, hoping to calm her wife down a little bit before they scared the baby.

"I missed her whole first day."

"Oh honey, it'll be okay."

"No it won't. She'll be okay, and Sofia is okay and so are Timmy and Spence and Mateo, but I won't. I'm tired Callie. I'm tired of missing my kids first days. Or first steps or first words or… whatever. I'm tired of emergencies."

What was she saying? Callie was beginning to be concerned, even if the longer Arizona talked the calmer she became. Her sobbing had stopped, though the tears hadn't.

"UDub called me again today. So did Nicole."

Callie hiccupped. But remained silent. The University of Washington Medical School had reached out to Arizona twice in the last year. The first was to see if she would be interested in becoming a professor there. They had talked about it endlessly. With the success of the Maternal-Fetal fellows, there were now more than 75 of them across the country. Like Arizona and Addison, they were all double certified in OB or pedeatrics, but they were slowly filling the hospitals of the US and Canada with maternal-fetal surgeons. UDub had said that kind of initiative is what they were looking for in prospective professors. Plus, they would allow Arizona to teach only two classes a semester (ethics and an elective of her own choosing and design) so that she could maintain her teaching of more fellows.

Nicole Herman had called only once, and while Callie had heard the one question she asked "The Robbins-Herman Centre for Women's Health, how's that sound if I get the grant?" They hadn't talked about that.

But Callie could guess that they would be talking about it now.

"Would you still love me if I stopped being a surgeon?" Arizona whispered, her tears finally stopped, but her gaze avoiding Callie's eyes, looking down at Lily whose pulls on the bottle were slowing as she drifted back into sleep.

"What do you mean?" Callie asked, knowing that she'd love Arizona Robbins if she were homeless and destitute and begging for spare change outside of the Starbucks with John, the smelly old man who she gave five dollars to every morning.

"Nicole's grant came through. She already spoke to Addison about coming back to Seattle so the three of us could open the clinic, and UDub said that I could begin teaching next year." Arizona paused and finally tore her gaze away from Lily and looked at her, Callie's breath was stolen by the look of determination in her eyes. "I missed her first day Calliope. I don't want to miss anything else. For any of them. I missed Sofia's first day of middle school, I missed Timmy's second birthday, I missed the twins first swear word. I missed your birthday this year, and it's been months and I still have your present in the closet."

Callie could only sigh and hold her wife a little bit tighter.

"Would you?"

"Of course I'd still love you, you absolute moron." The light teasing had the desired effect, Arizona chuckled softly, the first genuine smile she'd seen since her wife came home.

"You'd be okay if I quit Grey-Sloan?"

"I'd miss our on-call room quickies, and making out in your office, but you'd still be on the board." And truthfully she'd miss a lot more than that. But Callie had noticed a change in her wife over the last couple of years. Hesitance to answer a page - not that she ever did, but the split second difference in response was a noticeable change from the old Arizona who'd be gone, off to the hospital barely dressed, before the notice even came through.

"Remember last month, the dark day?"

How could she not, it had been Arizona's first day off, no scheduled surgeries and not even on call, but she'd woken to find their bed empty. True to her promise after the first dark day, she'd left a note. That had been only the third she'd had since they'd been married again and though it frightened Callie as much five weeks ago as it did five years ago, she'd gotten used to it. That was when she had missed the twins swearing, both of them dropping an "oh shit" in the middle of the ER when Callie had brought the boys in to wait for Barbara and Daniel.

"That was the longest one of them had ever lasted. I saw Dr. Wyatt again. I want to quit surgery Callie. I want to quit and take the next year off and be with the kids. I'll work on designing a course, maybe I'll take some classes myself on teaching, I'll get the clinic up and running. What I want from my life has changed. I thought I'd be a surgeon until I died - that maybe I'd die in the operating room or the scrub room. But as I was running around answering pages and saving babies and talking to Nicole and UDub while I was in the OR… it hit me. I missed her first day Callie. And I don't know why you never told me you had a name picked out for her, and I'm not mad I promise you, you know how much choosing names stresses me out, but I missed her first day. And I felt like I did on the dark days. But it wasn't even a dark day. It was supposed to be a good day and it wasn't because I wasn't where I was supposed to be."

Callie sucked in a deep breath. "So you quit."

"What about my current patients?"

"I'm sure Addie will come up, or you can bring one of your old fellows back to take over for you, or you'll figure it out. You can't just walk away tomorrow anyway, contractually you have to give eight weeks notice, but we'll call an emergency board meeting tomorrow, you'll hand in your resignation and we'll go from there."

"What if I change my mind? What if I miss surgery too much? What if-"

"There's so much we don't know about the future Arizona. If you change your mind, you change your mind. We'll figure it out. If you miss surgery too much, you can just steal cases from Alex."

"Jo's pregnant again."

"Is that why Arizona is here?"

"No, he saw me as I was leaving and Jo was about to bring him to the daycare because she and Alex were both on call and I didn't want him to spend all night in daycare and when he saw me he called me 'Zona so I just grabbed him and brought him home and before I left Jo was all I'm having another baby, so I took him and we came home and I decided I'm quitting surgery."

Callie sighed. They'd been talking so long that Lily began to fuss again, so she maneuvered herself from behind Arizona and took the baby and now empty bottle, soothing the baby and changing her before settling her, asleep once again, in the bassinet in the corner, Arizona's eyes never leaving her. "I'll be right back." Arizona simply nodded, so Callie left their room to check on the kids.

Timmy was cuddled into Sofia's side, their heads sharing the pillow and both of their left feet sticking stubbornly out from under the blankets. She didn't know where Sofia had gotten that habit from, but she was a hundred percent certain that Timmy got it from his favourite person. Arizona was sprawled haphazardly across Timmy's bed, all of Timmy's teddies having been thrown to the ground. Spence and Mateo were in their separate cribs, but were sleeping facing each other across the room.

When she made it back to her room after a stop in the kitchen, it was to find Arizona had removed all of her clothes and had dragged the bassinet (it too had wheels) close to her side of the bed, and was lying on her side, the covers turned down behind her. Callie wasted no time in removing all of her clothes and slipping behind her wife, relishing the feel of skin on skin contact.

"I know that nothing can happen right now, but I've missed being like this with you Arizona." Callie sighed into her ear, feeling the way that her wife shivered at the words and contact.

"We'll put clothes on when Lily wakes up next, for now I just want to be with you like this." They laid in each others arms for long silent moments, both of their focus on the sleeping baby next to them, the quiet sounds of the other children floating from down the hall.

"I love you Calliope Torres. I love everything about you." Arizona whispered, her small hands gripping tightly to Callie's.

"I love you too."

 _AN2: So, just a warning, the next chapter is just going to be straight M rated. I'm going to be trying something new, for me I mean, not fanfiction in general. If you get alerts and aren't into it that's okay. I hope you'll like it, I'm not sure how it'll go._


	23. Chapter 23

**AN: So… I've never tried to write this kind of M-rated scene before, like not even in my past of writing fanfiction for Hotch/Prentiss (Criminal Minds) or Harry/Ginny (Harry Potter). And this is going to get a little weirdly personal, but I've recently been obsessed with it, the content of this chapter, you'll know what I mean. I hope you like it. I hope it's good. Let me know. - Wesley**

 **Also, to the reviewer that asked if my username was Star Trek: The Next Generation related, yes. When I made the account I was deep into a TNG rewatch, and it's all I could think of. I've recently been toying with the idea of doing a Star Trek/Grey's crossover. Well, Grey's set in the Star Trek Universe, maybe after the Klingon War, so set somewhere around Discovery (which is banging by the way). Obviously Callie/Arizona. Is that something you think people would read, would any of you read it?**

 **Anyway. Thanks for all the reviews and follows. This story is almost finished now, I've a couple chapters left. I don't want to get too far into the future. Thanks for coming on this journey with me. I love you guys. #CalZonaForever**

 **888***

A week after the emergency board meeting where Arizona handed in her resignation, things were going well for Callie. She had started her two months of maternity leave early, and her fellow had only called her in once for a massive emergency. She still went to Krakens cames, but they recently left for a 7-game road trip, meaning that she was four days into an eighteen day break from that job. Arizona had been "punished" by the board, unanimously, with a four week paid suspension for break hospital protocol and operating on a family member, but were all sad to see her resign from surgery.

But over the last few days, things had really come together for Arizona, for their whole family really. But mostly for Arizona. Addison had agreed to come to Seattle for the four week suspension, and she and her husband Jake and their kids had stayed with them for a couple days before they found a house to move into. Arizona had no reservations about dropping her pager on the board room table with her letter of resignation. But Callie wasn't surprised that the cut bug caught Arizona quickly, working with Nicole and UDub, the Robbins-Herman Medical Centre for Women's Health would be associated with Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital, as well as the UW Medical Centre. Arizona would retain her surgical privileges at GSM, would gain them at UWMC, as well as have them at the RHMCWH.

So her wife, her beautiful and talented wife, would continue to perform surgeries, but she was no longer tethered to her pager. The past week for them had been blessedly silent for them. Well… not silent, they had five children now, three of who hadn't yet learned how to control their volume, even though Sofia had patiently said " _hermanitos"_ multiple times, and though Timmy tried to quiet down, he was soon sucked into the twins loudness once again, bringing forth a deep sigh from Sofia that was so Arizona it sometimes took Callie's breath away.

But now they were alone. Their children were with their grandparents, Barbara and Daniel having moved to Seattle to be closer to their grandchildren, and Callie was finally about to receive her birthday present from her wife. It was only 89 days late, but Callie didn't care. She'd got to spend the day with her family and friends - and though Arizona had been missing for most of it, her wife had climbed into their bed at some godly hour, and wrapped herself around Callie's body. They had made love, quietly and quickly, but it had been enough for Callie.

Arizona had said this night was going to be different. Callie had overheard her wife on the phone with her mother, explaining why she needed the house free of children (the words 'sex' and 'loud' weren't said, but Callie knew that when she'd explained that she needed to be alone with her wife, Callie could have sworn that she heard Barbara chuckle and agree to take the kids).

They'd returned to the house and took their time making love after dropping their kids off, then went to a fancy restaurant for dinner, but were now sitting on their bed after an intense make out session were clothes were shed quickly, the prosthetic leg having been dropped somewhere in the hallway.

She'd retrieved the plainly wrapped box from the top shelf of the closet, and it was now sitting between them on the bed. Arizona was stunning right now, the button up shirt Callie had worn to dinner wrapped loosely around her smaller frame, only a couple of buttons done up, enough to hide her heaving breasts from Callie's lascivious eyes, but the thin material doing nothing to hide the erect nipples. The brown wrapped box between them wasn't enough to hold Callie's attention when all she wanted to do was wrap her lips around Arizona's nipple, both over the shirt and then skin on skin.

"Are you gonna open it or not Calliope?" Her wife asked, her voice tinged with a bit of nervousness.

It took a great amount of strength to tear her eyes away from Arizona's breasts, more strength than she normally needed to do it, but she managed - even if her eyes were glancing back towards the most perfect breasts the world had ever created.

She could smell sex in the air, even if it had been hours since they'd made love this morning, but if her own level of wetness was anything to go by, Arizona was drenched and the thin panties she was wearing were sure to be ruined trying to hold it all in.

"Why is it wrapped in brown paper?" She asked, another quick glance at her wifes boobs, gloriously hard nipples hardening just a little more and it was taking all of her willpower to not just take her now, late birthday present be damned.

"I can see the way you're looking at me Calliope, I can feel the way your eyes are on me, and I need you as much as you need me right now. It's been so long since I could worship you the way I've wanted to, the way I dream about… but I promise you, we have all night. And all of tomorrow, and if you open your present now, your wish will come true." Callie gulped at the siren call of Arizona's sex voice, her fingers trembling with need and want and a hunger she'd only ever felt for Arizona as she reached for the box between them.

Shaking it revealed nothing, except for the blush that rose up Arizona's chest, her breathing become ragged as Callie forgot all sense of decorum and ripped the brown paper off the box. The box was nondescript and her trembling fingers weren't helping her to pry the box open. Pale hands, steady hands, came towards her and helped remove the tape. When the lid of the box was free, Arizona's hands withdrew back, and Callie opened the box, a gasp leaving her of its own volition.

"Arizona…" she whispered, arousal flushing through her entire body making her even wetter, if that was even possible. She felt her core tense almost painfully as she gazed inside.

Nestled on an old towel were three dildos of various sizes, and what she knew to be an adjustable harness. Her eyes snapped to her wife, and she could see that her wife was nervous, but the blush rising on her chest wasn't just from nerves. The way her blue eyes darkened, and her chest was heaving and the heady smell of her arousal more evident in the room… Callie knew that her wife was as aroused as she was.

"Arizona," She whispered.

"We talked about it years ago… when we were dating, and it never happened, and then… you know, life happened… and anyway… happy birthday."

Callie practically launched herself at Arizona, flinging the box between them to the side, and pressed her wife flat against the bed pressing her entire weight into her wife as she pressed a desperate and needy kiss to her wife.

When they broke apart, however long it was, the shirt Arizona had been wearing was now wide open, revealing, _finally,_ the glorious breasts, the nipples tightened and Callie could hear them begging for attention. But the way that Arizona's hips were grinding up into hers, Callie was so thankful that this woman was her wife.

"For you… or for me?" She asked, grinding her own hips into Arizona, a moan escaping her wife as pale fingers clenched tighter to her naked back.

"Dealer's… oh god," she groaned again, when Callie pressed tighter to her wife's center, the panties for sure ruined because she could feel the wetness against her hip as she ground down again, "dealer's choice."

"Have you ever… you know… used one?" She asked, pulling her own hips away, because she wanted this. Had daydreamed about this with Arizona for almost 14 years now. And it wasn't because she missed sex with a man, it wasn't that. It was Arizona. They had an adventurous sex life, and an active sex life. And an actively adventurous sex life. Even with their kids, they weren't restricted to boring perfunctory sex in the bed, they'd had dry spells in the past, but they always found their way back to each other.

But it was just Arizona. Callie loved sex. Loved it, craved it, and sex with Arizona was unlike sex with any other partner she'd ever had. Not to say that she hadn't enjoyed those experiences, because she had, but with Arizona it was on another level. It wasn't just about the physical, though sometimes it was, like the time they'd broken the shower chair because of how rough they were being with each other, but mostly because it was an emotional act between them. For a long time, they had used sex as a distraction from having deep and emotional conversations, which had led them to their divorce. But since they reconnected five years ago, that hadn't happened. Angry sex had happened, but it wasn't because they were avoiding the conversation, it was because sometimes you just needed that angry and rough fucking that left you walking funny the next day, and god could Arizona make her walk funny.

Arizona's hips were still undulating underneath her, but frustrated groans were leaving her kiss swollen lips when she wasn't getting the contact she wanted, as she answered; "I've used them before, when I was younger, but I've never… please Callie, just, oh god" she moaned loudly when Callie lowered herself again, pressing her thigh tightly to Arizona's soaked panties. They were definitely ruined now. "Never had someone use one on me. Oh god. In me."

Callie let the answer slide as she pressed tighter to Arizona, and finally brought her wife to the climax she was demanding with a rapid pace of grinding against her thigh, a broken "Calliope" falling from her wifes lips as she shuddered against her, the movement of her hips erratic as she came.

Slipping away from her wife, she grabbed the box and placed it beside them as Arizona slowly removed her clothing, tossing the ruined panties directly into the trash can beside their bed and flinging the also ruined shirt off the bed.

"Why three?" She asked, her head spinning with the scent of both of their arousals in the hot room, Arizona's legs spread and her still glistening centre dripping wet and swollen with arousal, saliva filling Callie's mouth as she desperately wanted to taste her wife.

"I wasn't sure how big you liked." Arizona answered honestly, one of her hands teasing her own nipple and the other rubbing circles high on her thigh, pale fingers moving closer and closer to her core.

"It's been a while," she admitted, her spinning head filled with a whirlwind of images of all the ways she's imagined Arizona fucking her with a strap on. With all the ways she's imagined fucking Arizona with one, which were suddenly full of colour and possibility. She'd wanted it, but never had the courage to bring it up, knowing that her gold-star wife had probably never had this experience - or more importantly - wanted it, and now here she was, lying before her, legs wide and centre dripping and pulsing with her arousal, Callie couldn't deny that the offer was definitely on the table.

While her left hand was lightly fingering the middle sized dildo, probably six and a half inches long, a nice thickness, she didn't know what she wanted more. To fuck or be fucked. She wanted both.

"I want both." She finally admitted, a whimper escaping her wife as slim hips jumped off the bed.

"I'll gladly fuck you Calliope, gladly and willingly, and oh god, I've thought about it too. And I've thought about letting you fuck me too, more than I'd be willing to admit, but it still makes me nervous."

Callie softened at that. She was surprised when Arizona had admitted to using one in the past, because when she'd mentioned it years ago, Arizona had kind of scoffed so Callie had dropped it, but knowing that Arizona had thought about it, had considered her suggestion, and had even purchased the sex toys (even if it was thirteen years after the conversation) love for the woman in front of her bloomed in her chest. And much lower.

Making her choice, Callie removed the middle sized, anatomically correct, matte black dildo from the box along with the harness and placed the others in the box on the floor. As she did that Arizona had rolled to her side of the bed and removed a box of condoms from her side table.

Moving back to her wife, Callie reached over and slid the harness up her right leg, pressing soft open mouth kisses to the flesh of a toned leg. Callie did the same to her residual left leg, and gripping the dildo tightly, the silicon in her hand throwing wave after wave of arousal through her as she fastened it in the harness. Tightening the straps, Callie could only lean back and stare at the vision before her.

Arizona's right hand had a condom in it (lubed and ribbed for her pleasure), while her left hand was stroking near the base of silicon cock that was standing proudly at attention between her legs. This time Callie did drool. Because everytime that shockingly pale hand moved down the shaft of the dildo, Callie could tell she added just a little bit of pressure because a whimper left her lips when the base of the cock pressed against her clit.

"How do you want to do this?" Callie asked, and was answered without words as Arizona flipped her suddenly so she was on her back on their bed, and Arizona was forcing her legs apart, settling herself on her haunches between her spread legs, the head of the cock staring at her as it bounced slowly between her wife's legs.

The unopened condom was pressed into her hands as Arizona bent forward and took one of Callie's nipples in her mouth, one of her hands moving between her legs, but not touching Callie where she so desperately wanted to be touched.

"I did some reading about this," Arizona whispered, her lips never leaving Callie's flesh as she kissed a trail across her chest, giving equal attention to both nipples, and all Callie could do was hum, indicating that she was listening, "it said if you haven't done this in a while that it might hurt, to go slow," the condom was crushed in her hand as the hard silicon cock was pressed into her thigh, and a deep keening wail was released from her lips as Arizona finally made contact with her centre, thumb rubbing light circles against her clit and fingers gliding through ample wetness, "it also said that your body is more receptive after an orgasm."

And before Callie could inform her wife that she had listened and heard, she was swiftly entered by a finger, the cock against her thigh still pressing tightly and rubbing slowly. Callie was lost to the world as a second finger pressed into her after several moments, almost ripping the orgasm from where it was building in her, mumbling Arizona's name as she came.

What happened next wasn't at all what she had been expecting, as the press of the cock was gone and Arizona had slithered down her body until her face was inches from her centre. Beyond that Callie could see the slight rise of Arizona's hips as she ground herself against the base of the dildo between her legs, and Callie could only groan when the lips of her wife lowered to her clit, lips and tongue working to draw another orgasm from her.

Callie squeaked in surprise when she felt herself entered again, stretched like she hadn't been in a long while, the burn bordering precariously, but oh so deliciously, on pain and pleasure as three fingers entered her. It was rough and hard and so good, that Callie felt herself mumble something as she felt Arizona scissoring her, preparing her for what was about to come. A warm mouth encased her whole clit and Callie's vision went white as she came again, her walls clenching so fucking tightly around Arizona's fingers.

Callie whimpered when the fingers were withdrawn, her walls still pulsating with the fading orgasm, but her body was primed for more pleasure and as she watched Arizona stick her arousal covered fingers in her mouth, Callie couldn't help but groan again, more wetness spilling from her. Sitting up and reaching forward, her fingers trembling a bit, Callie managed to open the condom and sheath the hard cock between her wifes legs and ensure to press the base roughly into Arizona's clit, arousal shooting through her as Arizona moaned deeply and loudly, her grip on Callie's thighs rough as their foreheads rested against each other.

"It's been almost twenty years since I've done this, Calliope," Arizona whispered, her hand playing in Callie's wet folds once again, slowly gathering wetness on her fingers and spreading against the length of the cock between them. Callie's eyes were transfixed at the contrast of pale hand and black silicon, but when Arizona gripped it tightly and rubbed the head of the dildo against her clit, she couldn't help but throw herself back against the bed, eyes closed in expectant ecstacy.

"It's like riding a bike, right?" She mumbled, wrapping her palm around Arizona's left arm that was propping her up over Callie's body.

"I'd rather ride you," Arizona whispered back, positioning the head of the dildo against her waiting entrance. Callie felt her hips jump, trying to force it deeper, and felt the moan tear from her throat as Arizona held back.

Callie moved her hand from Arizona's arm to her hip, slipping her fingers under the strap of the harness and gripping Arizona's slim hips trying to urge her to go deeper.

It was slow, so painfully slow, that Callie felt it could be a form of torture how slowly Arizona was pressing into her. But it was the most exquisite kind of torture, because muscles that hadn't been used or stretched or excited or teased or pleased in years were being used again, Callie couldn't be sure that she wasn't having another orgasm right now as Arizona continued to push into her.

But then Callie groaned as she felt Arizona slip out of her, both of their breathing ragged and deep, primal groans and moans filling the air. Callie could tell that Arizona was holding back on entering her, could tell that her wife was trying to go at a pace that was comfortable for her.

But Callie didn't care.

Using all the strength and wits she had left, Callie gripped the straps of the harness on either side of Arizona's hips and pulled Arizona fully into her. Her eyes closed and she whimpered in pain. She probably should have cared. Pain, not unfamiliar or unwelcome, was spreading between her legs and she could vaguely hear Arizona calling her name, her hips attempting to withdraw the cock from her depths.

Flattening her palms against Arizona's ass, she whispered "just stay still for a second."

Arizona complied except for a brief shuffling to bring both of her arms up and to rest beside her head, the slight movement of the silicon cock inside her shooting flares of pain. "Stop, god, it hurts. It hurts good, but it hurts, just please baby, stop, I need a minute."

From above her, she heard her wife chuckle, "I told you so."

"Shut up," she whispered back, tightening her grip on Arizona's hips. The pain was retreating, leaving only pleasure in its wake.

"You're going to have to be more restrained when you use this on me." Arizona whispered, her hips jerking slightly in response to Callie slapping her ass, the movement rolling the dildo a little deeper, drawing a moan from Callie and causing her hips to jump. "Oh, dirty talk, is that what you want Calliope?" Arizona asked, and Callie could only groan in response as Arizona rolled her hips again, the dildo sliding out and pushing back in with the movement.

"Hmm," was all Callie could manage.

But she could feel her wife's pace pick up, the strength hidden in slim hips and the tautness of the ass in her hands as they established a rhythm. It was still slow and torturous, but the pain she experienced at her impatience had vanished, nothing but rolling waves of pleasure flowing through her.

"Harder Arizona, harder." Callie begged. Then whimpered when Arizona stilled inside her, the entire shaft of the cock buried in Callie.

"What was that Mrs. Robbins?" Arizona asked, and Callie could hear the smirk in her voice, tiny rilling thrusts that didn't allow the cock to withdraw, but inside to continuously jab at a sensitive spot inside her, whimpers dropping from her lips in time with the thrusts of the cock. "What did you say?"

"Harder, fuck me harder, god Arizona, fuck me." Callie begged again.

And she had been right about it being like riding a bike, because even though it had been twenty years for her wife, she was wielding the fake cock between her legs like she'd been using it everyday. She'd pulled one of Callie's legs over her shoulder, gripping the thigh with both hands as she thrust her hips so ferociously into Callie, that it was all Callie could do to remember to breathe.

Having sex, toyless sex, with Arizona was always mind blowing. But this, Callie wasn't sure how she'd lived her life without knowing about the power that Arizona with a fake dick was. It wasn't something she wanted to do with her wife all the time, or even semi regularly, but in this moment, the animalistic grunts and groans dropping from both of their open mouths, the ragged and shallow breathing of Arizona above her, the way she was being stretched and opened and fucked so soundly that she was sure she wouldn't be able to do it for a while anyway.

But she could feel the way her walls were clutching tightly around the pounding cock her wife was thrusting at a breakneck pace inside her, the orgasm building in her threatening to drown in her _le petite mort_. And it only got better as Arizona brought her other leg up over her shoulder and continued her pace, nothing but nonsensical sounds coming from both of them.

Without warning, Callie felt her wife's thumb swipe across her aching clit, and she was thrown head first into one of the most intense orgasms of her life. She could feel the way that Arizona was helping to prolong her climax with slow and deep strokes, still softly rubbing her clit.

When she finally came back to herself, Arizona was still nestled deeply between her legs, which were now off her wife's shoulders and spread on the bed, her arms were wrapped around slim shoulders holding her wife still, and Arizona was pressing soft kisses to her face and neck, anywhere she could reach.

Slowly, Callie felt slight movement within her again, nothing but pleasure shooting through her body and limbs as Arizona grinds herself against the base of the dildo as it's nestled inside her, "What are you doing?" Callie asked, her hands smoothing down a soft and tense back as Arizona grunts in pleasure every time she she grinds down.

"I need to come Callie, is it hurting you? Am I hurting you?" She asked, but Callie noticed she didn't stop her movements.

"Pull out, I have a fantasy I need to have right now," Callie demanded, moving her hands to push Arizona away from her. Her wife wasted no time in slipping out, and on shaky legs Callie rolled herself off the bed and into their bathroom and turning on the shower, placing the shower chair in the centre of the shower.

There was a confused look on Arizona's face as Callie moved back to her side quickly, and didn't waste precious time and energy on words, as she silently removed the used condom from the dildo and replaced it with a fresh one, then picked a raggedly breathing Arizona up from the bed and swiftly carried her to the shower.

"What?" Was all Arizona could utter as she was placed on the chair, and Callie wasted no time in sitting herself in her wife's lap, her legs on either side of Arizona's hips as she sat facing the blonde, the head of the dildo pressed against her entrance.

Reaching between them, Callie spread her own wetness along the dildo, watching as Arizona's eyes darkened again, and a deeper flush of red spread her heaving breasts and neck. Arizona's hands were on her waist, holding tightly as Callie gripped the dildo tighter and lowered herself so that she was once again filled with Arizona, rolling her hips against Arizona's, the movement not allowing the cock to withdraw, but getting the desired reaction from her wife as she gasped and dug her fingernails into Callie's back, drawing a moan from both of them.

"Will this work for you?" Callie asked, breathlessly, because it was certainly working for her. Feet flat against the floor, arms wrapped tightly around Arizona, the hot water pouring over both of them, she could feel a fourth orgasm building, not as strong or intense as the one she just had, but it was stealing her breath just the same.

But Arizona only nodded and slowly her hips moved in time with Callies, the two of them working towards release. When it came, Callie slumped forward, as Arizona continued her hard thrusts, and she followed seconds later, their heaving chests meeting with each ragged breath.

"Happy birthday Calliope."

888*

Standing in the shower and remembering what they'd done last night filled Arizona with arousal, and trepidation. She wasn't lying when she'd told Callie that she'd thought about Callie making love to her with the sex toy. No, not make love, because what she'd always imagined when she did imagine it, which was more often than she'd ever admit to anyone, was fucking.

There was a difference.

Making love is like when Calliope worshipped her body, slowly and exquisitely and whether it was her mouth or her hands… it was always full of love. It filled Arizona from her toes to her fingertips, it radiated out of her entire body from every pore, and it never failed to make her fall in love with her wife all over again.

But fucking? That was different.

That was Callie using all of her strength and womanhood, taking Arizona roughly and hurriedly and hard, and barreling her towards climax, whether Arizona was ready for it or not. She was always ready for sex with her wife, but sometimes she liked to tease. And when Callie was in a _fucking_ kind of mood, Arizona didn't really have a choice. Which, if she were honest, was okay. Because when Callie fucked her… god it was amazing.

But this… she was worried. She was almost 47 years old and had never done this before, allowed someone to penetrate her like this before. Had never really met anyone who she'd wanted to share that part of her with. But Callie was different. Callie had changed her in so many ways, and all of it with love. Arizona not only wanted to make Callie's fantasy come true for Callie, but also for herself. Because she trusted Callie. Trusted Callie to make her feel safe and comfortable, and to listen and to go slow.

They'd only used the toy twice last night, in the bed and in the shower, but their lovemaking hadn't stopped there. And the reason that Arizona was thinking about it now… was because Callie, despite saying she wanted to use the toy both ways, hadn't pressed last night and just used her magical hands and mouth. Arizona had almost asked for it last night, had almost asked Callie to do it then, after watching the way that Callie had so wantonly begged to be fucked and then rode her for a second time, she wanted it too.

But she was still nervous and tense. And all the research she'd done over the last couple of months told her that she shouldn't be that. That that's what caused the pain, pain she knew she wouldn't have reacted to as well as Callie had.

But five minutes into the shower, her fingers were slipping through her folds, drenched with arousal, just from remembering the way Callie rode her last night, and thinking of doing the same to her today.

So lost in thought, she hadn't noticed that the door behind her slipped open, and she was shocked when she felt Callie's hands on her thighs. Opening her eyes, but not removing her hand from between her legs, so noticed that Callie's eyes were locked on her movements, tanned and strong fingers flexing roughly against the muscles on her legs.

"Isn't that my job?" Callie asked, on her knees in front of Arizona.

"You were sleeping."

Callie's hands moved to the inside of her knee and the tip of her residual limb, and forced her legs wider apart, shuffling a little closer, but her eyes never leaving Arizona's centre, where her own hand continued to glide through her wetness.

"What are you thinking about?" Callie asked on a husk. Arizona could tell that she was torn, wanting to push her hand away and make her come herself, or to continue watching Arizona pleasure herself. Arizona wasn't sure what she wanted either.

Except Callie.

"You." _You using the strap on and fucking me senseless._

"What about me?"

"The way you rode me last night." She felt her breath hitch as she finally made contact with her own clit, and heard her wife's whimper as her fingers tightened on her thighs.

"Is that all?" Callie groaned when Arizona made another pass over her clit, her hips jumping for more contact, but Callie's hands never leaving their spot on Arizona's legs.

"No." It was a moan, and it was honest, and it was accompanied by another whimper from Callie as Arizona dipped the tip of her finger into her opening.

"Which one are you thinking about?" God, could breathless and sexed up and aroused Callie be any sexier. And if her question was anything to go by, Arizona knew that Callie knew what she was asking for, but not saying.

"The small one," Arizona whispered. Callie had chosen the middle sized dildo, had later said that one day Arizona would take her from behind wearing the larger one after making Arizona wear it all day, which she had to admit caused another rush of arousal through her, and she pounced on her wife.

"Mmm," was all that Callie said as she continued to watch Arizona pleasure herself. This time, when she slid her whole finger inside herself, Callie swallowed audibly, and her fingers tensed on Arizona thighs.

"I think, if you're serious, I should use the same one you did last night." It came out on a husk, and then Callie added, "two fingers. Use two fingers Arizona."

And so she did, on the next thrust she added a second finger, her walls gripping them tightly even though her passage was slick with arousal. "Why?" She asked, knowing that Callie knew what she was asking.

"It's average." Average! Arizona almost choked on her laughter, but it quickly turned to a moan when her thumb made contact with her clit again, her hips jumping to meet the barely there pressure. "I've been with guys as small as the small one, and unless you know how to use it, it won't be good. Which I don't." Callie finally added.

"Go put it on, and wait for me on the bed," Arizona said through clenched teeth, her hand moving quicker between her legs, her thumb pressing rough circles against her clit, her orgasm under Callie's gaze building and ready to explode.

"You don't want me to help?" Callie breathed, the warm breathe washing over Arizona's core as she moved closer towards Arizona.

"After. I want to finish this imaging what you're going to do to me, but I'm so close to grabbing your head and riding your face." Callie just whimpered again, but she left Arizona to her own devices - hands - and left the shower, her eyes never leaving Arizona as she masturbated.

Eyes closed, Arizona pictured what was about to happen as she quickened her pace between her legs. The speed with which she was trying to get off was dual purposed. The first was because she was literally on fire and needed to come, the second, and more important reason, was because now the image of Callie wearing the strap on was stuck in her mind and she wanted it. The nerves were still there, the hesitation and trepidation were still there, but it was all overshadowed by longing. Longing to have Callie over her, longing to know what it would feel like to be filled by Callie.

She knew it wouldn't actually be Callie inside her, but it would be Callie directing the movements of the sex toy, Callie's hips that thrust into hers, Callie directing it in and out of her. Callie who finally made that fantasy come true. Callie who was already a dream come true, and Callie who would not doubt be the only person to star in this fantasy.

The toes on her foot curled and Arizona couldn't stop the "Calliope" that moaned loudly out of her throat as the muscles inside of her gripped her fingers tightly, fluttering with purpose, and her thumb didn't stop its movements until the rolling waves of pleasure stopped.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Arizona cleaned her fingers in the still warm water pouring in the shower. Though she'd just gotten off, the mental picture that she'd used to do it didn't fade like it normally did, instead the picture of Callie wearing the strap-on filled her with another rush of arousal, the wetness gathering between her thighs, dripping a little. Once she felt able to stand on her shaky leg, she reached for her crutches and plodded into the bedroom, her breath stolen once again as she took in the sight on the bed.

Callie was laying, her legs slightly spread apart, her hand stoking the strap-on that was standing erect and proud between her legs. When she went to the store to make this purchase, which was an arousing venture in itself, the only thing on her mind had been what Callie would look like wearing it. And everything she had ever pictured and imagined was so much less than what she got. Her wife's eyes were closed, small gasps leaving her lips on every downward stroke, strong fingers and arms pushing the base into her mound, and from previous experience, Arizona know that she was pushing the base into her clit. It only served to make Arizona want this more.

But she was frozen to the spot. Callie hadn't noticed her presence yet, and continued masturbating, very much like she had just done, and Arizona wanted to watch. She wanted to help, really, and other strange urges were flowing through her at the moment. Thoughts of spreading her wife's arousal on the dildo, thoughts of taking it in her mouth so she could taste her wife. She had to move to the bed because her knee was becoming weak with the unexpected - but not unwelcome - desires flowing through her.

Just as she was moving to sit on the bed, Callie's orgasm crested, and she whispered "Ari," her hand stumbling in its path of completion. It was the dropping of her crutches on the floor that finally got Callie's attention, and disregarding pleasantries, Arizona laid herself over Callie and attached their lips in a heated kiss.

When they finally broke for air, Arizona found herself underneath Callie, the hard length of the dildo pressed against her right hip and Callie's body hovering over her.

"Are you sure?" Callie asked, and the love she felt for her wife was a comforting weight pressing down on her. It wasn't the only thing on her mind, but the tenderness with which Callie asked made her feel safe and comfortable.

"Mmmhmm," she whispered back, reaching up to kiss Callie again.

"We don't have to, if you're not, Arizona." Callie whispered into her ear, another shot of arousal flowing through her as her wife's hand wandered down her chest and stomach, the talented and magical fingers of her wife laying gently over her arousal mound.

"I want this, I want to try," she moaned when the exploring fingers spread her lips, dragging themselves through her wetness and moving up to circle her aching clit. "But what if I don't like it?"

"Then we stop." Callie said, her hips grinding themselves into the dildo, pressing it tighter against Arizona's legs, her fingers moving slowly but surely against Arizona's opening.

"You won't be upset?" Arizona asked, pressing her face to Callie's shoulder just above her breast, the smell of Callie and sex filling her lungs and making her flush with desire.

"Honestly?" Callie asked, and Arizona just nodded into her shoulder, spreading her legs so her wife had better access to her opening. "Yes, I'll be disappointed. But don't do this for me Arizona, I want this, and I want you. This isn't just about me, this is supposed to be about you and us, and if you're just doing this because you think I want it, that's not good for either of us. I love you Arizona Robbins, I love that you're here, wet for me and writhing against me, but I don't need to use a sex-toy to make you happy. Just like you don't need one to be the most attentive lover I've ever had. Everything about you makes me want you. You, my wife. My gloriously beautiful wife. This isn't something that we're missing Arizona, we don't need it to have a fulfilling and gratifying sex life."

The intimacy of the way they were positioned, and the way that Callie had whispered her words into her ear, lovingly stroking and building the fire between her legs, the way that Callie's body surrounded her physically and the way that her words and love surrounded her emotionally and mentally filled Arizona with a kind of love that she wasn't sure existed. She appreciated the honesty of being disappointed if she wanted her to stop, and though her reassurances filled Arizona with the surity of continuing this, it didn't erase the trepidation in her. But it dampened it, almost pushed it to the back of her mind.

When she came, it wasn't with an explosion of sensation, but a rolling wave of pleasure that shot from three of Callie's fingers inside her, a gentle thumb on her clit and her wife's lips on the spot on her neck, just below her right ear. She couldn't even muster the breath to say her name, but she clutched at her desperately, and rode the wave as Callie;s hand worked between her to prolong the pleasure.

When she finally came back to herself, it was to find Callie kneeling between her spread legs, rolling a condom onto the dildo, and it was all she could do to not gulp at the sight. Her hands flew from their resting place by her side to the strong legs of her wife, legs that could run and play with their children, that were strong and long and when they wrapped around her filled Arizona with need and want. But now they were poised for another purpose, and Arizona couldn't help but feel excited as she thought about the strength that was in them. She knew that Callie would be gentle with her, and though she wanted this now, with her wife Calliope, it was the safety in her eyes and gaze that made Arizona excited.

Callie readjusted herself over Arizona, her left arm bracing her weight and resting to the right of her head, and her right hand was once again playing through her fold, gathering the abundant wetness there and spreading it along the shaft of the dildo. "You're really wet, that's good." Arizona could only mumble as she watched her wife's hand move from her opening to the shaft.

"I'll go slow Arizona, if anything hurts or you need me to stop or pull out, tell me. This is about you and you feeling good." Arizona could only nod and turn to kiss the bicep that rested by her head as Callie lowered herself, her weight resting on Arizona lightly, her fingers still holding the dildo against her opening. "Do you trust me?"

"Ye-yes," she stuttered, her hips grinding against the toy.

"I love you Arizona," Callie said, adding miniscule amounts of pressure and then pulling away before pressing it back. "I'm going to enter you now, okay."

"Mmm," she hummed with a nod, her eyes clamping closed as Callie pushed the head of the toy into her, fingers tightening their hold on the arm beside her head and on Callie's hip.

The sensations accosting her were new… and exciting. Callie hadn't pushed far in (yet) but she was being stretched and filled in ways that were unfamiliar and new. She could feel the tension in Callie's body, knew that her wife was holding back, and when she pulled out just a little and pushed farther in a groan left her lips and she felt her own fingernails dig into the skin of her wife.

It was a slow withdrawal and reentry, every new thrust pushing the toy deeper inside of her. There was pain, lots of pain but equal to it, and dare she say more than it, pleasure. Her inner muscles were screaming, it wasn't a pain that hurt, it wasn't that it was uncomfortable, just the opposite actually, and it was filling her entire body with sensations that were overwhelming.

When the toy was about halfway inside, and she knew because her gaze was locked on the motion of Callie's hips working against her own desires, Arizona moved the hand that was on Callie's arm down to mirror her other against a tanned hip, she tore her gaze from the intrusion between her legs, and looked at her wife's face.

The grimace that was there was full of patience and determination, the trembling of hips against her palms told her that Callie wasn't just holding back… she was _restraining_ herself, and by the way that Callie was biting her lip, her eyes closed and her brow scrunched, she knew that Callie wanted to go all the way in. And she wanted it just the same.

"Do it," Arizona whispered, a slight push against her wife's hips, the movements pushing the toy just a little further in, muscles stretching and singing with the pressure.

"Are you sure?" Callie asked as her eyes flew open. Blue met brown, and Arizona nodded. "Spread your legs a little more."

Arizona did as she was asked, and the toy withdrew a little as Callie's right arm also came to bear her weight, and when she was settled, a hard roll of Callie's hips brought the toy to rest fully inside her, but her wife stilled at her gasp of surprise.

It was uncomfortable, but it wasn't enough to ask her to stop. To pull out. She just needed a minute. "Take your time, this is about you." Callie whispered, obviously to the words that Arizona hadn't realized that she'd uttered aloud.

A minute or two or five later, the pain that had accompanied the fully nestled push had subsided, and her hips began a roll of their own. It was small movements, the toy only slipping out a tiny bit, but whenever she rolled her hips up, her hips met Callie's and though her wife was still, Arizona could tell that she wanted more.

"Are you okay?" Callie asked, her entire body trembling as she tried to control it, the sheer power that Arizona knew was contained it trying to break free, but Callie had promised to be gentle with her, and it made her inner muscles contract around the toy inside her, an unexpected strong wave of pressure rolling through her. "Am I hurting you?"

"No, god - uh, Calliope. It's different… it's… it's good." She groaned again, her hips still rolling against her wife. She could tell that she was wet, excessively so, because she could feel it seeping out of her, the toy between her legs gliding easily with her movement.

"I'm going to move." Callie said between clenched teeth, Arizona's inner muscles protesting the incomplete withdrawal, and fluttering tensley as her wife pushed back in.

But she didn't stop this time, matching her thrusts with the continued and deeper motion of Arizona's hips, and the longer that Callie kept pushing into her, the more pleasurable the sensations became. The noises that Callie was making above her were primal, full of grunts and Spanish swear words, her breathing deep and ragged, but she was keeping a pace that still had her trembling. And Arizona needed more.

"More." She asked, more like begged, and it caused Callie to still inside her again, the toy fully nestled once again, her hips never slowing their slow roll, and she groaned as she felt her muscles grip the toy inside her, like they were trying to drag it deeper into her.

"Hmm?" Was all Callie could say, her eyes once again fixed on Arizona's.

"Harder, or faster or whatever." Arizona said, tightening her grip on Callie's motionless hips. Suddenly she was curing her wife's self restraint.

"What are you saying?" And now Arizona knew that Callie was just teasing her, tempting her, trying to make Arizona say what she wanted her to say. What Arizona honestly wanted to say. The time for slow was over, this was an amazing experience so far, and though it would never be her preferred way to have sex with her wife, she understood why Callie - and straight women, enjoyed it.

"Fuck me Calliope, fuck me and stop smirking at me and just fuck-" she was cut off with her own loud moan as Callie pulled out again, and pushed harder into her. The thrusts were coming at a faster pace, and when Callie lifted her residual left leg higher on her hip, the toy was suddenly somehow deeper inside her, and her clit rubbed at the harness and Arizona lost all ability to process what was happening to her, and apparently the ability to breathe as her lungs felt like jelly in her chest.

When she asked for more a second time, Callie didn't stop to tease her again, just moved her hips more forcefully into her and the toy was piercing her at a frantic pace. She could feel her muscles contracting wildly around dildo, and erratic pattern that matched the rolls of her hips against the thrusting hips of her wife and though this should have been her warning, she wasn't expecting the explosion of the orgasma that ripped through her straight from the movements of Callie's hips directing the toy inside her.

She could still feel the soft strokes Callie was thrusting inside her, the small movements more for Callie's benefit as her breathing had started to hitch.

"Are you close?" She asked her wife still above her, her body now shaking with it's need for release, and though the toy still nestled to the hilt inside her wasn't pounding her mercilessly, it's soft movements were stirring another dose of pleasure.

"Mmm, yes, but I can stop if… oh god, if I'm hurting you." Callie grunted.

She wasn't, so instead of verbally answering, she moved her hands to Callie's face and pulled her into a hard and fast kiss, wasting no time forcing her tongue into Callie's mouth and rolling her hips up again, Callie's small rolls against her become harder as she chased her own release. Callie groaned into her mouth as she came and it force a second orgasm from Arizona.

As they came down together, Arizona felt Callie pull out and she groaned at the loss. Her core was burning, but it wasn't uncomfortable or unwelcome, just a different and new sensation - in fact it was quite pleasant, the sheen of sweat on her body, the throbbing of her heartbeat in her toes and in her clit, the way she couldn't catch her breath.

Movement beside her caught her attention as she watched Callie remove the harness and toy, discarding them on the floor before rolling onto her back, where Arizona immediately snuggled herself into Callie's side, the strong arms of her wife wrapping her safely against her own heaving chest.

They stayed like that for several long and quiet moments, each of their breathing returning to normal.

"So?" Callie finally asked, pressing a kiss to Arizona's temple.

Arizona turned slightly to press a kiss to Callie's lips, "It was wonderful, you made it wonderful. You're wonderful."

"Thank you." Callie responded.

"For what?"

"Letting me fuck you like that."

 _AN2: So... I hope that was good... or at least well written. Please leave me a review whether you liked it or not._


	24. Chapter 24

**AN: Since I got a couple comments on the last chapter, I want to take a moment to say something. Safe sex is always important. Not just with new partners, but even with established ones. For Callie and Arizona, adding the sex-toy was new, and though silicone dildos are generally safe, but you never know how your vajayjay is going to react - especially since it had been so long for Callie, and Arizona had never done that before. The purpose of condoms in the story is because of the introduction of the toy. On that note, I probably should have mentioned lube. I took creative fanfiction licence and didn't include it for various reasons, but if you're thinking of introducing sex toys, especially dildos, into your life lube is important. Natural female lubricant may not be enough, for some it is, and for some it will never be. Condoms and lube just serve to make it the best experience it could possibly be, and when it comes to sex and your junk, safe is always better than sorry.**

 **If you are thinking about adding these things to your life, I would like all of you to do some research before diving in,** ** _literally_** **, because I care about your junk. Hence this chapter.**

 **Love y'all.**

"Uhh… where'd you find the mad scientist?" Meredith asked, poised over Liliana's crib in her nursery.

"Huh?" Callie replied, her gaze also locked on her baby. She was three months old now, and she was the spitting image of Arizona. Her hair was the exact same shade of sunlight, her eyes the same delicately endlessly blue. And the dimples, jesus christ, pray for all ye sinners, the goddamn fucking dimples.

They popped! Like, she just smiled like a normal baby, like she was smiling up at them now, cooing her little baby cooing noises and then suddenly POP - friggen dimples! She was McDimples 1 in miniature form.

"To clone Arizona." Was all that Meredith offered.

Again, "Huh?" was all that Callie could reply with.

Because Meredith wasn't wrong. Barbara had shown her pictures of chubby cheeked, and dimpled, baby Arizona. The resemblance was uncanny. Like… scarily uncanny. And The Colonel had pulled her aside and he whispered, something he'd never done with Callie before, and it was hurried and rushed, like they were trying to quickly get past this illegal transaction in a back alley, and he was definitely hiding from Barbara and Arizona. And Callie knew this because when Arizona entered the room, silently, he squeaked (he actually squeaked, like a tiny little mouse and it just served to confuse Callie further, because who was this man?) in surprise, stopped whispering and ran away.

He'd said " _I'm warning you Callie, she's going to give you trouble, and it's the smile that will get you, the glint in her eye. It's practically witchcraft those dimples and those blue eyes, and you're going to be powerless, she's gonna come in, having talked her brothers into doing something they're not supposed to have done, and you'll never suspect her, and-"_ and that's when he'd squeaked and run away, Arizona's innocent "daddy?" confirming everything that Daniel had just said.

And if Daniel Timothy Robbins, Colonel of the United States Marine Corps could be scared… Callie knew that she was in trouble.

And it also wasn't like she hadn't known it before, with the boys and with her own Arizona, and even Sofia had a power over her… it was… uncanny how all six of them had her wrapped around their fingers. She was supposed to be the bad cop, the firm parent… but Liliana… she wasn't a crack baby like Sofia had been. Or the boys. Or baby Arizona Karev… she was going to be Callie's kryptonite.

And to make matters worse… that boy that Sofia had a crush on, well he had a crush on her too, and now they're "dating" because Sofia is 13 now, she's "practically" a grown up, so Callie had brought Liliana along for the date, because she was the chauffeur (and she also paid) ((and she'd also driven the young man home)) and her two daughters were between her and if either of them were like her at that age… well, all Callie could think to do was learn how to swing a very large stick.

"Like, she's obviously a clone right? And you'd need a mad scientist to do it, and I was just wondering where you found one of those, because…. Damn." Meredith trailed off, her index finger tracing the dimple on Lily's left cheek, making it pop even more.

"I think the first thing I said was 'oh no,' because…" Because when she first laid her eyes on her daughter, her daughter that looked exactly like her wife… she knew she was in trouble. She was the bad 'bad cop' with Sofia and with the boys. Arizona was the softie. She was the one that bent for them, let them stay up that extra fifteen minutes after bedtime, let them have that last piece of candy after Halloween… when Callie said no, they went to Arizona for the yes. (Though they were often a united front on major issues, extra stories before bed, and ice cream before dinner, were things that Callie let slide.)

But her first look at Liliana, and she knew it wouldn't be as easy to say no. She had started to steel herself for the moment when Lily learnt what she could accomplish with her dimples. Because she was still a slave to Arizona's. And the boys, and Sofia's - even though Sofia's dimples weren't Robbins inherited, they were all Robbins in power.

Callie Torres was a slave to the Robbins dimples. All of them knew just how to use them too. Sofia's got her that expensive pink bike for her birthday, and the skateboard, and the piano lessons - and out of the piano lessons. Timmy's had got him so many extra cuddles when he misbehaved. Spence and Mateo hadn't learned to wield them yet, but she was still powerless. And Arizona… well, Arizona's dimples worked everywhere, but most especially in the bedroom where they were their most deadly, especially when her wife had that smirk on, the smirk that said 'I want you, and you want me, and I know you want me to take you, and to take you hard and fast and I'm going to' and that sultry smirk was framed by those dimples, well Callie was on her back at their mercy.

The Robbins dimples made her the pushover.

And she fucking loved it.

"Like… I thought the boys were bad, but Lily…" Callie finished lamely, watching as Meredith finally bent down to pick up Lily who was babbling at them.

"I get it," Meredith began, finally offering a small smile to Callie, her attention quickly returning to the baby. "As Bailey gets older he looks more and more like Derek. Mama Shepherd showed me pictures, and if he didn't have my hair, he'd look exactly like Derek."

As Meredith had finished quietly, Callie didn't know what to say. The pain of losing Derek had faded now, a small bump against a counter rather than the twisting knife it used to be, and that was just for Callie, she couldn't imagine the way that Meredith felt. And though her friend had moved on from her fling with Andrew and had dated a couple of other men, not quite seriously, but not with the abandon of her youth, Callie imagined the pain would always be there.

She still sometimes woke from nightmares that reminded her of those four days thinking Arizona was dead, and the pain was just as fresh in those moments, but all she had to do was roll over and there Arizona was, asleep and warm and alive, and she was in her arms again. Meredith would never get that.

"Anyway. That's enough of that." Meredith whispered quietly, Lily quickly falling asleep in her arms. "When is she due home?"

"Later today, actually." Arizona had been gone for the last few days to Miami to help deliver Megan's baby and to make sure that the surgery she'd performed three months ago had made things better and that the baby would be well. Callie had stayed home with the kids because she'd had a big surgery scheduled on a Seahawks player, so Arizona had gone alone.

She'd texted a couple hours ago that she was taking off from Miami, and Callie was due to leave to pick her up soon, which is why Meredith was here. To pick up her children so that Callie and Arizona could have time alone.

"Callie, can I just say something?" Meredith asked, her voice soft as Lily had fallen asleep in her arms, her friend slowly rocking from side to side, icy blue eyes trained on the baby.

"Anything Mer, you can say anything." Callie offered, just as quietly. The moment felt heavy, primed for a deep conversation and heavy emotions that Meredith wasn't used to sharing with her.

"When Derek died… I was lost. I had the kids, and I knew I was pregnant, I was actually going to tell him when he got home the next day and that's why I ran. I didn't know how to live without him." Callie could only listen and watch as Meredith continued to gently sway from side to side, still only looking at Lily. "I took my cues from you and Arizona. It was different, I know, you guys only divorced, but you both learned how to live without each other, and it was by choice. I was so mad at you Callie, both of you, for so long. You were right there with each other, and you didn't have to learn how not to be, and I was mad that neither of you saw it."

Meredith finally looked up, and Callie caught her eye, offering her a small smile, letting her friend know that it was okay to continue.

"And then you came back and I was mad again. Because I would never get that chance. The second chance to be with the great love of my life. But once again, I took my cues from you and Arizona. I could fall in love again, I'd never get Derek back, but… loving again was possible."

And with that, Callie knew that Meredith was finished, the words spoken between the heaviest and most important that had passed without alcohol.

"I'll grab Sofia, and we'll see you later for dinner, right?" Callie could only nod, and discreetly wipe away the tears that had gathered.

*8*

Callie sat waiting in their car, Meredith having the SUV because of all the car seats, waiting for Arizona's plane to land. Her dad had insisted that Arizona use the Torres jet to fly to and from Miami, wanting his daughter to fly in comfort. It was the first time that he'd ever used that word in relationship to Arizona, to Arizona, and Callie could tell that it meant a lot to her wife.

It had meant a lot to Callie as well, because her mom had mirrored the sentiment saying that "Torres' shouldn't fly commercial when it's for family." In the last three months, Lucia had come a long way into accepting Arizona into the family. It wasn't always easy, sometimes it was rocky, especially when old friends from church were around, but Lucia had maintained what she'd said, Arizona was family, and she was treated as such. She stayed at the Torres' villa while she was in Miami, and the staff were to treat her as such. Lucia had even gone so far as to find a new church, one that was accepting of Callie and Arizona, throwing away the last sixty years of her life and easily shedding the friendships who judged her.

Arizona had sounded shocked when she recounted the story of the way that Lucia's arm had snaked around her shoulders and the older woman had proclaimed "that's my daughter you're talking about" to one of her old friends, now ex-friend, when she'd yelled at Arizona. Though Callie still wasn't entirely sure that this turn around wasn't just about Megan's baby and she was still hesitant, she couldn't deny that Lucia was trying.

Smiling when the plane landed, Callie couldn't wait for her wife to be home. The last three months had them together constantly and it was a welcome change to both of them. Since Arizona had finished at GSM, for the time being, it was a stage of their relationship that they hadn't ever experienced before. Arizona was always home when Callie got there and they were seldom interrupted by the ringer of a pager anymore, allowed to sleep in each others arms almost every night, and then to wake up with each other. And usually Timmy and Mateo. Spencer, in complete opposite to the rest of the family, preferred to spend his night time sleeps alone, but Timmy and Mateo found their way into their bed more frequently than they should have been.

In fact, the first time they'd woken to find Mateo in bed with them, it had been a surprise since he still slept in a crib, but over breakfast with a grumpy Sofia, they learned that she'd been awoken in the middle of the night by Timmy who made her get out of bed to retrieve Mateo so they could crawl in with mommies. She'd grumbled about it, but Callie caught the small smile. It was also at her insistence that she and Arizona were going shopping for "big boy" beds so she didn't have to wake up in the middle of the night to Timmy slapping her lightly on the cheek.

And it's not like Callie believed her daughter anyway, as often as she woke with Timmy and Mateo, she'd found the three of them all cramped together on her bed, the boys sprawled over her like they did to her and Arizona.

When her beautiful wife, hair all flowy and looking like the sun, slid into the car beside her it was all Callie could do to lean over and give her a soft welcome home kiss. All the time together over the last three months had ruined her from being apart from her wife for any length of time. It was like they had shifted into a honeymoon phase over the last three months, where Callie could just have her in her arms whenever she wanted.

"Mmm," Arizona whispered against her lips, "hey wife."

"Hey back," Callie whispered, deepening the kiss. As their tongues met softly, not heatedly or rushed, but a languid welcome home, they were lost in their own world, but were suddenly shocked back to the present when the truck of the car slammed. Breaking apart, Callie felt her own blush match the one on Arizona's face, both of them falling into laughter as one of the flight attendants rapped on her window.

"All set Dr. Torres and Dr. Robbins, drive safe." The attendant had an amused smile on her face as she waved them off.

"One day someone is going to catch us making out, like our parents, and I might die of embarrassment." Arizona said, leaning in for another soft kiss.

"It's okay, I'm familiar with mouth to mouth," Callie whispered back, stealing her wife's lips for another kiss.

"Let's go home Calliope," Arizona whispered, and the husk of her voice, that siren call of a sex voice, melted her insides a little while simultaneously warming her centre. Three days was a long time for them. "I have a surprise for you."

"Oh… presents!" Callie said excitedly, not quite forgetting the fact that the wetness in her underwear was gathering.

"For the kids, yes, but yours is a bit… different." Callie gulped. She hadn't informed Arizona in the change of plans. They were supposed to go home right away, because the house was going to be empty. Sofia and Zola were having a sleepover and Meredith had said she wanted time to snuggle with a baby, so she was taking Lily too. The boys were with Teddy and James, since they were talking about adopting - or at least fostering - James had said he wanted to spend time with kids, like overnight to see what it was like. They were going to do "man" things, Teddy had said, neither her or Callie knowing what that meant, but the boys were happy so that was good enough.

But this was going to be a surprise for Arizona. A chance to see the kids sooner than expected. Though the kids were expecting to see Momma tomorrow, so it was technically a surprise for both of them. Arizona had asked if it was wrong of them to lie to the kids, wondered if it made them bad mothers to extend her absence for twelve hours so that they could have time alone, but the answer to those musings had been a resounding 'nah' because it came up when they were both left unsatisfied after a steamy and roughly sexual meeting in the shower where neither of them got to finish because Spencer was pounding on the door yelling about something or other.

So maybe it did make them… not as great mothers, but they had needs, sexual needs, and friends who would take their children so they could meet those needs. Friends who'd hoisted their own children on them so they could do the same thing. Sex was like surgery, sometimes your village just had to take your children so you could do what needed to be done.

And Callie needed to be done.

"What's the surprise?" She husked back, fighting the urge to take her eyes off the road and look at her wife, her wife who she knew was in the same state of arousal as she was judging by her shallow breathing.

The answer was a bit shocking. Arizona had taken her right hand off the steering wheel, and placed it high on her left thigh. Her thumb rested against the lip of her prosthetic, an expected barrier to the warmth of the leg, but it was the hardness by her pinky that was the shocking part. Arizona's legs were spread, and her fingers were pressing soft circles on her wrist as pale hands held her hand in place.

"Is that…" She couldn't even finish the question, because she knew what it was.

"It is Calliope." Arizona husked, lifting Callie's hand pressing it higher, the bulge of their sex toy now fully in her hand.

Her panties were ruined now.

"I need you Calliope, all the time." Arizona started with a moan, her own fingers pressing down on Callie's so that she was pushing the fake cock into her wife's centre. It was getting harder for Callie to keep her eyes on the road. And to not pull over. "It's ridiculous my wife, how deeply I long for your touch. How much I sometimes need to touch you, to make love to you. We've known each other for almost fifteen years and I need you as much now as I ever did. Possibly even more."

Callie gulped, they were alone on the highway back to the city, so she chanced a look at her wife. Which was a bad idea because her breasts were heaving, the flush of arousal covering her chest and neck and cheeks, her blue eyes hooded and darkened with arousal. "Eyes on the road Calliope," Arizona husked back, and Callie moaned along with her when Arizona used both of their hands to press the cock tighter to her clit. Callie could feel the slip roll of her wife's hips as she tried to get the pressure she needed.

Tearing her eyes away from her wife, who was currently getting herself off beside her in the car, she focused on the road. Well mostly on the road. Okay, like 60% on the road, 38% on the sounds Arizona was making beside her, and 2% on her own need. Her own words coming back to her _wear it all day, and then fuck me roughly._

"I had to buy new pants to cover the bulge," Arizona said between pants of breath and moans, her hips never stopping their slow roll against the cock in her pants, Callie taking over pressing it. "When I dressed this morning and I saw it in the mirror, I knew something had to be done. This is only for you, I only want you to see me like this. So I hid the cock," Callie gulped, Arizona had never called it that before, always 'the toy' or 'the dildo,' but never that and it caused another wave of arousal to pool between her thighs. "In my purse, and then I bought these jeans because they hid it well. There I was… walking around the mall… and the airport… getting wetter and wetter… thinking about taking you from behind… like you asked me to."

Callie swallowed, her throat was dry, and she couldn't muster any words to say.

"And then it got to be too much, so I had to do something about it. In the bathroom on the plane, I touched myself, my fingers slipping in so easily and the first brush against my clit sent me flying. But I wasn't thinking about fucking you Calliope, no… do you know what I was thinking about?"

Callie had no idea, but she wanted to find out. And since words still weren't coming to her, she just used her grip on the cock and pressed it down harder into Arizona, the action causing a guttural moan to leave Arizona's lips as she came with a wild thrust of her hips. The car slowed of its own volition, or maybe Callie was distracted and let up the gas, she wasn't entirely sure.

A minute later, Arizona's hands were on hers again, and she pulled Callie's away from her centre, gripping tightly.

"I was thinking about you fucking me again." Was all Arizona said, and this time Callie knew that the car slowed because she let up the gas pedal.

With that image in her head, and her dripping and drenched core, she knew that she'd have to let her wife know about her plan.

"I also have a surprise," and luckily she was just about at the exit that would take them to their neighbourhood, still only a few minutes away from Meredith's house.

"Hmmm," Callie could tell that Arizona was in her post-coital haze, her eyes were closed and she was playing with Callie's fingers between hers, which were once again resting on the cock.

"We're going to Meredith's for dinner, and Teddy and James are bringing the boys." And she hated that she had planned this.

"Oh my god Callie, why didn't you say anything sooner?"

It was like a cold bucket of water was poured over both of them, and though it didn't do anything to douse the fire of arousal burning through her, Callie's head was a bit clearer even though her fingers were still pressing against the dildo between her wife's legs. Arizona was obviously in the same boat, the movement of her hips against the base starting again.

"Pull into the gas station there." Arizona demanded, her fingers lightly pulling Callie's away from her centre.

"Why?" Callie asked, confused, but still wet and wanting.

"I want to take this thing off before we get there." Callie could understand that. When she pulled into the parking lot, she watched as Arizona removed her panties from her purse, ripping a moan from Callie. Arizona grabbed Callie's purse and got out of the car. It was only a couple of minutes later that she returned, slipping back into the car with a small smile.

"I didn't say anything because… that was the hottest thing that has ever happened to me Arizona Robbins. I was mesmerized by you, by your words and your actions, and it was all I could do to keep us safe and on the road." She said honestly, reaching for Arizona's face and leaning forward to pull her into a kiss. "I love you, so damn much, Arizona."

"Mmm, sorry about that. The safety thing, I mean. Not that other stuff." Arizona whispered back, deepening the kiss again. "I love you too."

"Never apologize for that, never apologize for making yourself come." Before they got distracted again, and Callie could make the decision to make them bad mothers and not go see their children, she pulled back, her fingers still threaded through the sunshine that her wife disguised as hair. "I hope you'll still fuck me when we do get home."

"That I can promise you."

*8*

Dinner with their kids had gone well. They were all excited to see their Momma, and Callie was equally excited to see how the four older children lit up at seeing their Momma. Arizona was equally excited, after Callie helping her down to the floor, she and the boys rolled around and wrestled each other. The later, Sofia and Zola asked for help with some project or other they were working on, and Arizona cradled Lily fast asleep against her shoulder as she helped the older girls, the hand not holding Lily softly stroking Sofia's head as their oldest leaned into her momma.

Callie couldn't lie, the sight of her wife with their kids, it did things to her. Like… _naughty_ … things. Oh sure, there was the full to bursting falling in love with the woman all over again, and the joy of seeing her be so free not just with her own kids, but Meredith's as well. Ellis still favoured Arizona over everyone but her own mother, even at 8, and Arizona hugged Zola just as tight as Sofia when the girls figures something out with just a little bit of prodding, and Bailey had joined the wrestling pile. That was there too.

But because of that little show in the car… the images of which, and the sounds, and the feelings, and just all of it, rolling around in her head… the naughty feelings were… overpowering.

And now they were in their room, their shirts and bras leaving a Hansel and Gretel trail from the front door to their bedroom, her pants were… somewhere, it's not important where, and her panties were halfway down her thighs when she felt it, Arizona finally pressing her crotch against Callie, and **it was there,** right under those jeans.

"When did you put it back on?" Callie asked with a groan, grinding her centre against Arizona's hip, moaning loudly as her breasts were squeezed roughly. A little more roughly than she normally liked, but if the way Arizona was acting… she was in for a rough night.

They had a safe word for a reason.

"Just before we left," Arizona husked right into her ear and Callie felt herself whimper.

 _Crap! What was their safe word, again?_

"Oh god," Callie groaned again, as her wife's right hand reached down and practically ripped her panties off.

"Get on the bed Calliope." Arizona demanded, the swagger in her hips serving to further turn Callie on, the forceful push against her shoulders forcing her thighs against the bed, allowing her to drop down.

From her vantage point she watched as Arizona slowly undid the button and zipper on her jeans. She could practically hear each tooth pop free, the sound erotically magnified in the silence of the bedroom.

"On your stomach." Arizona demanded again. Callie could only obey.

It was only seconds later that Arizona was behind her on the bed, and Callie could feel the cold metal of her prosthetic leg against the inside of her knee. "Your leg?"

"I need the leverage." Callie felt the moan tear from her throat when Arizona's fingers slipped through her drenched folds.

Fingers still probing her wetness, making small and barely there passes at her clit had her reeling. Arizona was now pressed flat against her back, lips pressed against her ear as she whispered, "I'm gonna fuck you like this Calliope, are you ready? You feel ready. You're wet and you want me inside you don't you?" Callie could only hum and nod, her brain half anticipating what was about to happen and half trying to remember their safe word.

"What's," Callie groaned as the head of the dildo, still the medium one, so Arizona only half listen to her, but she was suddenly glad for that, rubbed against her entrance "oh god, Arizona," the head pushed in just a little, apparently Arizona didn't much care if she were ready, and Callie was okay with that, "what's the safe word?"

Calie groaned when the head slipped from her entrance, bemoaning the loss, "You forgot our safe word? Tsk tsk, Calliope," Arizona husked again, leaning away from her and pushing the head back in, Callie squirming backwards, wanting, no _needing_ , Arizona to fuck her already.

"Oh shit, fuck me, damn," Callie felt herself exclaim as Arizona laid a hard slap to her ass.

"I'm gonna fuck you Calliope. Good and hard, and I'm not going to tease you like you teased me, do you remember?" Callie only nodded and screamed again when another slap was placed to her other ass cheek. "It's 'apples,' by the way," punctuated with another slap, but Callie couldn't scream anymore, all she could do was moan, loudly.

"Right," she finally mustered the courage to say, "apples."

"Are you saying it Calliope?" Arizona husked into her ear, the cock in her entrance withdrawing again.

"Not yet," Callie was begging now. Begging for Arizona to do what she's been threatening, what she's been promising to do for the last four hours.

"Good," and with that Callie was filled and stretched, and her eyes went white with the unexpected orgasam ripping through her, her chest burning with lack of oxygen and embarrassment.

But that hadn't stopped Arizona, her new sex monster of a wife, leaning over her, both arms braced on either side of her shoulders, the sound of skin slapping against skin was pounding into her mercilessly, another wave of pleasure building in Callie, stronger than the last unexpected one.

"Ari, oh god, fuck," But Arizona didn't stop or slow, and not that Callie wanted her to.

"Later, if you're able to, which I sincerely hope you are," Callie as astounded by how calm her wife sounded, like she wasn't even the slightest bit exerted by the relentless pace between her legs, "You're going to fuck me like this Calliope."

Callie groaned again, fisting the sheets in her hands to hold on as Arizona continued to thrust roughly into her. Her entire focus was on the way that Arizona was fucking her, she couldn't even conjure what Arizona had just said, her vision was darkening with her impending release, it was all she could hear and taste and feel as she lifted her ass to meet Arizona's thrusts.

"Did you hear me Calliope?" Another slap to her ass.

"Yes, fuck you, I will," she didn't honestly know if she was going to be able to.

"You'd better," and suddenly Callie was flying, the combination of the cock still moving inside her and a rough pinch to her clit sent her reeling, feeling safe and secure with Arizona's wrapped around her as she fell apart.

Long moments later, when she finally came back to herself, she was still on her stomach and Arizona was on her back beside her, her chest heavy and her skin sweat slicked, eyes darker than Callie had ever seen.

They lay like that for a long while, their eyes never leaving each other, it was only when Arizona's smile came out, the one with the dimples and so full of magic and love, that Callie felt infused with enough strength and energy to move again, slipping to cover her wife's body and capturing her lips in a soft and languid kiss, a complete one eighty from what just happened.

"You may have created a monster Calliope."


End file.
